Numb3rs Assaulted sequel untitled
by jadvisioness
Summary: Sequel to 'Assaulted' Colby's assault is revealed and investigation ensues. SLASH. Drama/Crime/Angst/SEE NOTES! Ch.30 - TORTURE - worst it will get!; begin posting of next book in June/July
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel to 'Assaulted!' **You really need to read that story first because this starts right at the end.

_Disclaimer: No money; just entertainment. No disrespect is meant to all those who created the worlds that we love to play in and the characters whom we love to read/write about. To the actors/actresses/beings who portray those characters, we wouldn't love them as much as we do without your talent and dedication._

_

* * *

**AN:**__ Remember, this is fiction. However, this story deals with male rape and the aftermath of – in a very fictional manner. Most all of the victim's (or victims') mental/emotional/spiritual/physical healing happens off camera._

_If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please seek help._

_

* * *

_**The end of 'Assaulted!":**

King fixed himself and his clothes, wrapping the condom in a couple of paper towels before sticking it in one of his pockets. Releasing Colby from the handcuffs, he put them back in their pocket before moving to the sink.

Colby barely registered the SWAT leader's comment over the water running in the sink before falling into darkness.

"I'll be seeing you again, Granger. Count on it."

* * *

_**Part One**_

Tim King walked out of the bathroom as normally as he would at any other time, heading back to the breakroom. Ten minutes later, he said his goodnights to everyone and then left the bullpen via the elevator. His confidence, after what he'd done, was staggering. King knew that the drug would keep Colby pretty out of it for a few hours – not to mention the knocks to his head – as well as render him unable to remember what had happened. And the head trauma would virtually guarantee that the memory of the entire assault would be completely lost.

All the SWAT leader had to do to cover his tracks was to stop down at Security, something he did on a regular basis, and wipe the hard drive for the CCTV cameras of the Violent Crimes floor for the last hour. It would more than cover the time of his assault of Granger, as well as his slipping the drug into the coffee mug, his following the blonde agent into the bathroom and his exit from.

Smiling, he waved to a variety of office personnel as they all exited the elevator, bidding them all a safe evening as he headed towards Security.

* * *

As everyone began closing down for the night, a few looked around for Agent Granger. Not seeing him, most shrugged, assuming that he had already left for the night, getting an 'early' start on the first free weekend they would be having for about three weeks.

David frowned. Colby's computer was still on and his jacket was hanging on the back of his computer chair. His partner had seemed in a relatively melancholic mood today and he wanted to check in with him before they went their separate ways for the weekend. Turning around, he scanned the entire bullpen. Don had left with Larry and Charlie; Nikki had gone with Edgerton; Liz was just heading to the elevator, but there wasn't any sign of Granger.

Calling out to the only other agent left on the floor, David asked if she'd scene Colby.

Shaking her head, Liz replied, "Not since he left the breakroom a couple hours ago." Not giving the handsome black skinned agent any time to contemplate where his partner could be, she continued, "Come on, Colby doesn't need a babysitter. I'll hold the elevator for you; we can go get a drink and a late dinner before we start our weekends." Liz smiled, gesturing for him to hurry up.

David chuckled, "Alright, you don't have to twist my arm." He'd give Colby a call tomorrow.

The agent hurried over to the elevator, asking where she wanted to go, digging out his car keys. They got into the lift, making plans for dinner and then talked about what each of them had planned for their two days off, both of them completely unaware of their friend laying unconscious and bloody on the cold floor in the bathroom.

* * *

Colby awoke to darkness, shivering so hard his teeth would have been chattering if it wasn't for the gag he still wore. His head was throbbing and his whole body felt like he'd gone a couple of rounds with a gorilla. He had no idea where he was or what had happened, his mind a hazy mess.

Blinking, he lifted a hand up to his face, sensing it as he moved it closer but unable to see it, continuing until he touched his skin. Feeling around his eyes, he found no blindfold – so either he was blind or there just wasn't any light. Bringing his other hand up, he felt around his mouth. After realizing he was gagged, the blonde worked to untie the material and then tossed it aside.

Using his hands, he moved them to the coldest part of his body first. Colby's breath hitched when he touched cold, naked skin, sticky with something all around his upper thighs. With trembling hands, Granger continued down his legs, finding his pants and underwear down around his ankles. As he moved to pull them back up, the agent became more aware of the pain he was in, especially the throbbing that seemed centered in his butt.

Swallowing almost convulsively to keep from vomiting, Colby shoved all his assumptions, his thoughts, aside with everything else as he struggled to get his clothes on. Putting his hands back to the floor, the blonde felt the cold surface; a moment of exploring and Colby realized it was tile.

Beginning to move slowly, his head feeling as if it was about to fall off his shoulders, and giving himself time to pull himself together, Granger moved his hands in a back and forth sweeping motion in front and to each side of himself. Knocking into something cold, hard and smooth, Colby felt around until he realized he was next to a toilet, his hands also encountering something sticky. Using the fixture to steady himself, he made it to his feet before hurriedly wiping his hands on his jeans. Continuing to put the pain aside, Colby painfully stumbled around until he felt a wall, then followed it until it turned a corner and became a flat surface. Metal from the feel – he knocked on it – and the sound of it.

Coming to another corner, he made the connection that he must be in a bathroom stall after finding the seam of a door and, once he unlocked and swung it open, it was confirmed when the motion sensor for the lights turned on.

He was in the men's room at the office.

_What happened?_

Looking back, Colby saw a small pool of blood on the floor and a shirt; the material having been wound up tight to be used for the gag he'd had on. Turning around, he moved slowly towards the sink area.

Colby blinked at his reflection in the mirror; his face, his head, looked like ten miles of bad road. There was tacky blood with a bump and bruise on his left temple, dried blood around his nose and his bottom lip was split open. Reaching up, Colby explored the back of his head and found evidence of more blood and another bump.

Swallowing, breath hitching, Colby undid his pants and examined himself. There was some bruising on his penis and smeared, discolored sticky stuff on his thighs. More blood… and dried semen.

Fixing his pants with shaky hands, swallowing convulsively, Granger did his best to get himself under control.

As he made his way towards the door, Colby's chin fell to his chest. Turning around, clearly fighting the decision, the blonde made his way back to the bathroom stall. Swallowing again, he opened the door with hands that shook even more. All Colby wanted to do was run away, far away from what had obviously happened to him.

His mind was incredibly fuzzy, but he knew that he needed to get the shirt… and clean up the evidence of… what had happened.

Swallowing again, he went inside and grabbed the button down, long sleeved garment that had been used to gag him.

_His_ shirt.

Based on the evidence… yes, he knew what had happened. But the how and the why…

Swallowing bile, Colby grabbed a handful of toilet paper and cleaned up the fluids as much as possible, trying to keep what little calmness and control over himself that he had, while fighting to keep all the pain his body was in, tucked into a corner of his mind.

Almost running from the stall, Colby made his way back to the bathroom door only to find that it wasn't going to be that easy. Nausea won out and he ran into another stall and vomited. His entire body shaking now, Colby flushed after wiping his mouth on a wad of toilet paper. Moving back to the sink, he quickly rinsed his mouth out and then got to the exit.

Taking a breath, he opened the bathroom door and peeked out.

Closing his eyes, Colby sighed, a myriad of emotions running through him as he found the bullpen completely deserted. Looking around, he started for the elevator and then realized that he needed his jacket. Looking from the exit back to where his cubicle was, Granger was the epitome of someone in a decision making crisis. Deciding that he needed to make it look like any other night, Colby cautiously made his way over to his desk where he shut down his computer and then grabbed his coat and the rest of his things. Making his way to the elevator, the blonde hoped he'd be able to make it to his car without running into anyone.

As he walked, Colby could feel something… blood probably… oozing down his… backside… and the blonde wanted to be sure that he was well away from the office before it soaked through his underwear and jeans.

_What the hell had happened?_

_

* * *

_

Making it to his car without having bumped into anyone besides the security guards, Colby painfully bent himself down into the driver's seat. Once settled, he rested his forehead against the steering wheel, his mind awhirl with thoughts.

Colby knew he should go to the hospital, get himself checked out and then report the … crime. But… despite being in law enforcement and knowing the statistics and the 'should do's' and the 'should not do's' of sexual assault, all he wanted to do was go home, scrub himself raw and then get in bed, with the covers pulled well over his head, putting it down to a nightmare.

However, Colby knew that if he did that, whatever evidence left behind from his… assaulter, would be gone and that pretending it didn't happen wouldn't make it so. But, despite wanting to know who and why… he didn't want to know who and why.

Tears leaked from his eyes. How could this happen? After everything he'd done in life, after avoiding… everything … _How could this happen?_ He'd gone through all his life, paranoid that someone would find out about who he really was; listening for even a whisper that people thought he _might_ be gay. He'd gone through the Army, where he knew some guys had been… assaulted. He'd been undercover for over two years and avoided everything.

Why now? Had he been targeted because of something he'd done, or not done? Was this some random thing? And… in the _office_ bathroom. In the FBI's _headquarters_ in Los Angeles!

He'd fought every single urge to let that part of himself out of the box he'd put it in, in a deep, dark corner of his mind; Colby had completely cut himself off from acknowledging that part of himself his entire life and… … for what? To have it all taken from him in an act of brutal sexual assault, with no choice as to who or how or when or where… or if.

Sighing, the blonde started the engine of his vehicle and left the parking lot. His mind still whirling with everything, he was clearly on autopilot, not even registering the speeding truck until it was too late.

* * *

Don hurried into the Emergency Room, heading straight for the information desk. Flashing his badge and identifying himself to the nurse there, he got right to the point. "I'm here for Agent Colby Granger, he's one of my team and I was told he was in an accident."

The nurse nodded to him and then tapped on her computer keyboard. "Ah, Agent Granger is still in surgery. I'll notify one of the nurses that you're here and a doctor will be with you as soon as they have any information for you, Agent Eppes. Until then, please have a seat in the waiting area."

Don had been in the midst of a late dinner with his dad and Charlie when the call came in. As he'd hurried out the door, his thoughts consumed with his blonde junior agent, he had barely registered that Charlie was going to call the rest of the team and then meet him at the hospital.

Pacing in the waiting area, Don's thoughts focused on the man who'd been on his team for almost four years now. Colby had proven himself over and over again on the job and then, after the undercover mission was revealed and then concluded, he'd done everything but die in the line of duty to reaffirm himself to his teammates and him, his boss, over and over again.

And Don couldn't help but respect the man.

Ever since the Janus List fiasco, Colby had slowly been coming out of the shell that he'd obviously put himself into for the duration of his undercover mission. He was a lot more laid back now, but he was also a lot more… real… not that he hadn't been before; it was just that Don felt Colby was… _involved_ a lot more now.

Sighing, the dark haired agent threw his head back, briefly looking at the ceiling. Don's mind was awhirl with questions that needed answers and emotions and feelings that he was constantly putting aside regarding Agent Granger. Before he could sort anything out though, the doors of the Emergency Room's main entrance opened to reveal Charlie and Alan quickly walking in with David and Liz right behind them. As the four clamored around Don, the ER doors opened once more and Ian and Nikki hurriedly joined the group.

"Don, wha—" David was interrupted by his boss' hand raising in the classic 'wait' gesture, while shaking his head.

"I don't know, I checked in about half an hour ago and the nurse said someone would be with me as soon as they had any information and I haven't seen anyone yet. All I know is that Colby was in a car accident."

About fifteen minutes after everyone had made themselves as comfortable as possible in the waiting room, a nurse in scrubs came out to the information desk where she was pointed to Don's group.

Don stood and crossed the room to meet her.

"You're Agent Eppes?" The woman asked.

By then, the group had gathered around Don and the man in question nodded his head.

"Agent Granger has sustained several injuries in the car accident. Doctors Bethany, Johann and Kent are working on him right now and when they're finished, Doctor Bethany will come and tell you all the particulars; I'm just here to let you know that he's in surgery and it's going to be a few hours."

At the 'few hours' the tension in the FBI group went up a few more notches.

Liz was the first to ask, "Can't you tell us anything?"

The nurse shook her head apologetically, "I'm sorry, all I can legally tell you is that he's in surgery now and it will be a few hours. I'd suggest that all of you get some rest and then try and eat something, the cafeteria's down at the other end of the hospital."

As the nurse turned and walked back into the Emergency Room area, the team went back to the uncomfortable chairs of the waiting room, intent on being there when a doctor came to fill them in on their friend.

* * *

Not quite five hours later, a doctor came out from behind the Emergency Room area doors. The scrubs were splattered with blood and, as the figure approached the nurse at the information desk, the person began taking them off to reveal a petite redheaded woman. The nurse waved in the direction of the large group in the waiting area.

All of them stood up as the doctor approached them.

"You're all here for Agent Granger?" At the various affirmatives, she nodded. "I'm Doctor Amanda Bethany. Agent Granger came through surgery pretty well. The car accident could have been fatal for him but he was wearing his seatbelt and his airbags did deploy. Those two safety measures kept him from being killed outright."

She saw a couple in the group swallow while a few others closed their eyes very briefly. Motioning for all of them to sit down, she pulled up a chair sitting closest to Don and looked at all of them in turn.

"As it is, Agent Granger came away with a compound fracture of his left arm; his spleen was ruptured so we had to remove it and he'll need follow-up care for that to make sure his immune system hasn't been compromised too much and if he ever loses a significant amount of blood. Something during the accident punctured his right lung and he'll be on a respirator for a couple of days to give it time to heal – however it didn't come near the heart but we checked it out anyhow and found no injury there. Until he wakes up, I'm classifying him with a mild to moderate head injury; we'll know more, as I said, after he regains consciousness.

"Other than all of that, he has a lot of bumps, contusions and lacerations."

She could see the shock on a few faces and smiled slightly with understanding. "I know it's a lot to take in but, as I said, it could have been fatal. Agent Granger is a very lucky man – the seatbelt and airbags saved his life.

"I'm feeling pretty upbeat about his condition and don't expect anything other than a full physical recovery, except for the spleen, of course, and the full use of his arm after a lot of healing and PT sessions _IF_ there are no complications." Doctor Bethany smiled reservedly but kindly.

As all of them let out a small proverbial breath and thanked her, Doctor Bethany glanced to the dark haired man the nurse had referred to as Agent Eppes, Granger's boss.

"You're Agent Eppes, correct?" When Don nodded, the doctor quietly asked, "May I speak with you for a moment, in private?"

Don frowned, the others, having caught the comment, looked to the woman with curious expressions.

"What? If it's about Colby… is something wrong?"

Doctor Bethany took a breath, "It would be best if I spoke with you in private and then," she made a 'whatever' gesture, "we can go from there."

Don nodded his head, frown still in place, "Ok… alright." Standing up, he turned to either side of him, giving them all a glance as he waved at them, "I'll be back in a few."

* * *

Doctor Bethany led the way to a small room just off the ER's waiting area. After the door closed, the woman turned to face Don and got to the point.

"Do you know if Agent Granger is having some type of physical relationship with anyone?"

The question was completely out of left field for Don. "What?" The doctor waited for a moment, giving the agent time for the question to replay in his mind so she wouldn't have to repeat it. "No, I don't. What's this about?"

"All of Agent Granger's injuries didn't come from the car accident. When he was brought in, he was significantly bruised and bloody around his head, something that could have been attributed to the accident but doesn't correlate with the information we have _about_ the accident – although some of the injuries were, of course, aggravated by it.

"He also had some bleeding that _wasn't_ caused by it either – we checked him thoroughly."

At Don's bewildered and confused look, the doctor placed a gentle, yet strong hand on his upper arm. "I've seen it, a lot, and my medical experience leads me to believe that, some time before Agent Granger was in the car accident, he was sexually assaulted this evening."

Don blinked at the woman. Moving away, he then turned back to her. "You're saying Colby was…" Don couldn't even say the word. Even thinking it, especially in conjunction with the former solider, was something he just couldn't wrap his mind around.

Doctor Bethany hated dealing with a variety of aspects of her job and this was a major one. Nodding, her expression was completely understanding and sympathetic. "Raped."

She watched Don sit on the couch and then pulled a chair up next to him. "I've already ordered a blood screen and we've done a rape kit but… from the little I saw, whoever did it probably used a condom. If some drug was used, if it's still in his system and it's something we have on file, we'll find it."

Waiting a moment, she continued when the man didn't say anything. "My opinion is that, whoever did it, was a bit brutal regarding Agent Granger's face and head. He has a laceration and bump on two areas of his skull, those, combined with the car accident, are why I'm ranking the injury as mild to moderate. Agent Granger's face also looks like he was hit or shoved into a wall a few times. There are also signs around his mouth that lead me to believe he was gagged and his wrists show that some type of restraints were used; probably handcuffs judging by the marks."

Don closed his eyes, putting his elbows on his knees, and then putting his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Agent Eppes. If there's anything else I can do to help your friend, you or his coworkers deal with this, just give me a call.

"If anything comes back from the rape kit or the blood screen, I'll let you know as soon as possible. My team will keep you informed of the injuries from the accident itself, also, of course." Doctor Bethany fumbled a card out of a pants pocket and held it towards the man in front of her.

Don, still bowed, nodded and then lifted his head, taking the card. "Thanks doctor." Taking a breath, he stood up with the woman. Before she could open the door, he halted her.

Turning around, she looked at him calmly. "How do I…?" Don trailed off, clearly at a loss as to how to ask his question. Doctor Bethany nodded her head in understanding. "I can go with you if you'd like, but I think your people would much rather hear it from you. You can do this. Yes, it's a very… ugly topic, as you well know, considering your job; but you've all dealt with it and you can do it with a great deal of understanding and concern because he's your friend."

Don nodded his head slightly. "Thanks again, Doctor Bethany." She smiled understandingly.

"When can we see him?"

Again, the doctor smiled, "He should be out of recovery soon and then moved to ICU. After he's settled there, I'll have someone come tell you."

With that, Don headed back to the group in the waiting area and the doctor went back into Emergency.

* * *

Don had obviously been given some disturbing news because when he came back to the waiting room, he was a bit paler than usual and clearly deep in thought and agitated. Coming back to his chair, Don continued standing, giving each of his friends and family a somewhat searching glance before running a hand through his hair. Sighing, he sat down in the chair the doctor had used.

All of them had seen Don in a variety of situations but it was rare to see him so… lost… with regards as to how to say something that was clearly on his mind. After opening and closing his mouth twice, Don finally ran a hand through his hair one last time before looking at each of them as he began to relay to them what Doctor Bethany had wanted to speak with him about.

He saw the same expression that must have been on his own face just minutes earlier. There was shock and disbelief that, moments later, turned to concern for their friend, anger at whoever had committed the act and determination at finding them and making them pay for the crime.

Don inwardly nodded at the last. This… _this_ was something they could do. As soon as they got to see Colby, making sure he was alright with their own eyes, Don would head back to the office – and he'd bet he wasn't going to be the only one – to start backtracking Colby's movements for the last few hours.

About fifteen minutes later, a nurse came out to the waiting room to let them know that Agent Granger was now settled into the ICU and gave them directions on how to get there. A few minutes after that, they were checking in with one of the nurses on duty.

Smiling with understanding, she told them they could visit their friend two at a time for five minutes only, for the first hour; they would change that if or when needed according to Agent Granger's medical needs.

It was understood without any need for communication that Don would be the first to visit. As he moved towards Colby's cubicle, he motioned for David to join him, just as he needed to check on his youngest agent, he knew the black man needed to reassure himself on the condition of his partner.

Don and David had, of course, suffered their share of injuries as well as visited coworkers or even suspects and victims in the hospital. All those experiences really never prepared you for walking into a room and seeing someone you knew, whether a relative or friend, hooked up to a variety of machines. It was even worse when one of the machines was something 'lifesaving' like a respirator.

… Knowing one of Colby's lungs wasn't strong enough to draw breath and that there was a _machine_ breathing for him was… it was frightening on a deep, perhaps even unconscious, level that both Don and David didn't acknowledge.

Don felt torn between wanting to be close to Colby; seeing the breath filling and then exiting his body, making sure his skin was warm with life instead of cold with… And keeping his distance from the young blond agent for fear of doing something inappropriate, especially with another of his agents in the room with them.

David slowly approached the bed that his partner, his brother, rested in; his eyes traveling over all the equipment that was being used to maintain or support Colby's health and recovery. Grasping the railing alongside the bed, David paused for a moment, watching his partner's chest rise and fall.

On the freighter, when he'd seen Colby tied into the chair, slumped against the restraints, a needle sticking out of his chest, David had thought it was all over. It didn't matter whether Granger was guilty or not 'cause he was dead now. Finding that thready pulse in the non-breathing body of his former best friend was something David would never forget.

Despite David's feelings of relief that Colby was alive, he couldn't get passed the entire 'spy thing.' David realized, _he knew_, that he was being unreasonable over what his partner had had to do – his job – but he just couldn't let it go. Even after Don had made the entire team, along with the rest of the seventh floor, watch the tape of Colby's interrogation by Lancer, it had still taken him almost an entire year to reconcile enough with the blond to get back to their pre-Janis List partnership.

It had taken even longer to really get back to the groove of their friendship and that was precipitated by, of all people, Ian. The sniper had finally cornered David in the underground parking garage of the FBI building and taken David to task by verbally ripping into him, forcing him to pull his head out of his ass. David was certain that if he hadn't realized that Colby was doing everything but bending over backwards and getting himself killed, to cater to his attitude about the entire thing, Ian probably would have resorted to physical violence. And probably deadly at that.

* * *

_End of part one of Assaulted! sequel (untitled as yet)._


	2. Chapter 2

**Sequel to 'Assaulted!' **You really need to read that story first.

_Disclaimer: No money; just entertainment. No disrespect is meant to all those who created the worlds that we love to play in and the characters whom we love to read/write about. To the actors/actresses/beings who portray those characters, we wouldn't love them as much as we do without your talent and dedication._

_

* * *

_

_**AN:**__ Remember, this is fiction. However, this story deals with male rape and the aftermath of – in a very fictional manner. Most all of the victim's (or victims') mental/emotional/spiritual/physical healing happens off camera._

_If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please seek help._

_

* * *

_

**Part Two**

Don watched his senior agent. David could hide things when needed but, in general, Don found him to be easily read. He could see the memories and thoughts flit over the black man's face and knew that he was thinking of his behavior to his partner after Colby's recovery from Lancer's interrogation and torture.

Unlike David, Don kept everything close to his chest and very few people could read him, let alone read him well. Charlie and his father had done everything they could to pull Don away from the precipice that the lead agent found himself on when Colby had been revealed as a spy for China.

Don prided himself on his ability to do his job, to do the work that needed to be done, for the FBI; when it was found out that one of his own agents, _one of his own team members_, was a mole, Don's belief in himself and his ability to do his job came into serious question.

Unknown to his brother and Alan, Don had not only been beating himself up about completely missing the fact that Granger was a spy but also fighting against the growing attraction that Don had been feeling towards his subordinate.

So, not only was he completely worthless at his job, he'd also developed an inappropriate fascination with the traitor as well.

Back in the freighter, while he'd been occupied with checking the bodies and removing their weapons so they weren't taken by surprise, David had gone straight to Colby, something Don had wanted to do with all that was in him, despite everything. Finding out that Colby had a needle of potassium chloride in his chest had rocked him to his core and the only thing he could focus on was pulling his cell phone out and calling for the medic. After that, it was just images of David and him leaning over Colby's body doing CPR, David's frantic voice telling the blonde agent to stay with him, his own saying Colby's name, vague awareness of other people coming into the room they were in – Megan's heartfelt curse, medics shouting for them to clear a path and move away from their downed comrade – and then pretty much nothing until they were at the hospital.

Don was brought back to himself when a nurse came into the room to usher them out. Eppes looked to David as the black man turned away from the bed and then to Colby. Apparently he'd have to come back, later and alone, to check on the blonde because, obviously, he was too scattered, too rattled with everything, to do so now.

* * *

Back in the Intensive Care Unit's waiting area; the rest of the group sat in a tense semi-silence, almost whispering their words to each other when the air grew too heavy with worry over their friend and anger of the crime that had been committed against him.

Amita and Larry had recently joined them and while they huddled near Charlie and Alan, Nikki and Liz sat just a foot or two away, glancing to the sniper now and again to make sure he hadn't decided to go hunting down Colby's assaulter without them.

* * *

Ian had moved over to a window almost on the other side of the room from the rest of Don's team, family and friends, a dark thundercloud of rage-like emotion hovering around him. In Ian's business, the people he was connected to or with weren't friends or acquaintances; they were contacts, resources, snitches, informants… But Don and his team, along with the group from CalSci, had become friends – some more than others, of course – and one of those was the quiet, strong, formidable Colby Granger.

The sniper had heard of the man, vaguely. Mostly it was talk of the humvee accident or his time with CID while in Afghanistan before he'd come to Quantico. Then he started hearing about Colby's time at the academy. Upon finally meeting the man, Ian liked what he saw – not only physically, the man _was_ attractive, of course, but how he handled himself as an FBI agent. Edgerton wasn't surprised when Granger ended up on LA's premiere team under the leadership of Don Eppes.

Ian had kept a weather eye on the man, continuing to find himself interested in the blonde from Idaho. He'd already gone so far as to run a background check on him, learning of his family's history in the military and the decorations and commendations he'd received while in the Army. And when Granger had been revealed to be a spy for the Chinese, no one was more surprised than Edgerton.

However, while everyone else seemed to be stuck on that, Ian had had a nagging feeling that he – all of them – was obviously missing something. By the time Colby had escaped with Carter, the sniper had been using his vast network of contacts to build a bigger picture of what and who and why and how. And when Granger was brought to the hospital from the Chinese freighter that he'd been interrogated and tortured on, Ian wasn't surprised when it was revealed that Colby Granger wasn't a spy – at least, not one for China.

Two months into Granger's reinstatement as an agent, and recognition as a national hero, people were still giving him the cold shoulder and treating him like a traitor.

Especially his former partner, David.

Edgerton was in the building when Don stood up from his desk and gave a piercing whistle, bringing everything on the floor to an abrupt halt. As he leaned against one of the conference room's outer walls, Ian listened to Special Agent Eppes give everyone a dressing down regarding their behavior of Special Agent Colby Granger, who'd been given the day off.

As Don announced that all personnel, that _everyone_ on the seventh floor, were to put everything they were working on, on hold and then began rounding everyone up so each had a clear view of one of the large plasma screens, the sniper smirked.

And then Special Agent Don Eppes made all of them watch the tape of Special Agent Colby Granger's interrogation and torture.

Things had lightened up considerably for the blonde with regards to his antagonizers after that and things seemed to be swinging back to normal again.

Except for Sinclair.

It was at that time that Ian felt he needed to intervene – he didn't analyze it, he just did it. After Ian cornered David in the underground parking area, making himself very clear, David had finally smartened up regarding his partner. Edgerton had been hoping the man's brain had been in his head _somewhere_ because, if it hadn't, Ian knew that the next time he had to say anything to the handsome black agent, it would probably be with hand-to-hand combat.

While Ian hadn't analyzed the why of his need right then, he did later.

It didn't surprise him to realize that he did it because he was attracted to the formidable blonde. Ian cared about the man; he cared about what happened to him and how he was and, in general, that people treated him well.

Since then, Ian had paid particular attention to anything regarding Colby Granger. Whenever he was in Los Angeles and had the time, Edgerton stopped by the FBI office to check in with Don's team. Whenever he wasn't, the sniper used any excuse, within reason, to work closely with them, especially Agent Granger.

He'd also found out, by surreptitious observation, that he wasn't the only one who had realized that Colby was someone worth noticing. Ian began watching Don a bit more intently after catching the dark haired man watching the blonde's reflection via his cubicle window, for several minutes under the guise of concentrating on his own computer monitor.

_That_… Well… Ian had been interested in the Eppes brothers since the first case they'd called him in on. He found Charlie fascinating – the way his brain worked and how he applied it to the cases his brother asked for Charlie's help on. The man was a genius and Ian liked him because, while he was aware that he was a genius and all that that entailed, Charlie didn't shove it in people's faces, nor did he shove his theories down everyone's throats, really. Although, yes, he could do the 'offended' attitude very well.

However, Ian had been interested in Don for an entirely different reason. The guy was _sexy_; sex on a stick actually. Everything about him was sexy. His confidence, his dedication, his loyalty, the way he carried himself, the way he wore his tac gear and carried his gun. All of it was like a magnet to people who saw and/or felt it. And Ian Edgerton was no different.

* * *

_End of part two of Assaulted! sequel (untitled as yet)._


	3. Chapter 3

**Sequel to 'Assaulted!' **You really need to read that story first because this starts right at the end.

_Disclaimer: No money; just entertainment. No disrespect is meant to all those who created the worlds that we love to play in and the characters whom we love to read/write about. To the actors/actresses/beings who portray those characters, we wouldn't love them as much as we do without your talent and dedication.

* * *

_

_**AN:**__ Remember, this is fiction. However, this story deals with male rape and the aftermath of – in a very fictional manner. Most all of the victim's (or victims') mental/emotional/spiritual/physical healing happens off camera._

_If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please seek help.

* * *

_

Sensing a change in the room, Ian turned to see David and Don making their way back from the IC unit. Ian made a life out of reading people and, focusing on Don, the sniper noted that the lead agent's face was carefully blank. Knowing what he knew about Don's interest in Granger, Ian could well understand the mask that Don was struggling to stay behind; it reflected his own, of course.

Upon reaching the waiting area, Don motioned for Nikki and Liz to go next, telling the rest of the group that he wanted the team through first so each could get back to the office. Ian sighed silently. While he'd wanted to get in to see Colby as quickly as possible, he'd just have to wait. After all, no one knew his feelings on the subject – and that's the way Ian wanted it – and, considering Don's comment, the sniper was willing to bet that Eppes sent him in after the women were done.

Turning around, Ian gazed unseeingly back out the window he'd been facing moments earlier.

In an age when job security wasn't, – secure, that is – Ian's job was. He was one of the best out there and with so few of them, his position would never be in question. It allowed Ian a large amount of leeway in what he could get away with and, while being bi-sexual wasn't too highly looked upon, as long as the sniper didn't flaunt his male relationships, Ian could do what he pleased in that area.

However, Ian usually stuck with women for the simple fact that it was easier. With them, it was all about the sex; that animalistic attraction – the chase and capture of his dangerous side. Hell, even Nikki just wanted him for that; they'd actually been in the midst of getting seriously hot and heavy when Charlie had called, telling them about Colby.

Ian sighed again; yes, he loved women….

He loved the smell of them, whether it was a designer perfume along their jugular, an unscented deodorant mixed with their sweat, or the aroused bouquet that emanated from the juncture of their legs.

Ian loved their softness and curves. Face nuzzled into her hair while the grasp of his fingers sank into the soft flesh of a breast; his teeth nibbling on the skin of inner thigh as his fingers worked the wet curves of her nether lips; his tongue running along her abdomen as his hands caressed and griped twin globes of flesh, whether those on her chest or the ones of her backside, it didn't matter.

He loved their taste. The sweat that beaded on her skin where shoulder met neck as they coupled; inside the wet cavern of their mouth before or after they sucked him off; the juices of her core as he went down on her.

Ian loved the sounds they made as he touched them with his hands, his mouth, his tongue. He loved it when their breath hitched, their heat beat frantically increased when he imbedded himself in their hot, wet, tight cores and began thrusting into them repeatedly. Ian loved the way their wombs closed in on his raging hard on as it throbbed, buried deep inside of them as they reached orgasm.

And he loved pouring his own hot, thick seed down their long elegant throats or into their waiting inner chamber when he could go bareback.

But while Ian loved all of that, he _was_ bi. And as much as he loved women, he loved men. Maybe even more.

Many of the reasons he loved women stood for men as well.

The smell and taste of a man's sweat after an honest day's work. The softness of body hair that had never seen a razor and the curves of a man's butt or the fullness of his balls. The taste of beaded sweat on any part of his body after the struggle for dominance to be on top; the bitter tang of come from blowing him or from being blown and then kissed hot and dirty.

Ian took pride in making the strong and controlled man lose it. He relished in the sounds they made as he touched them with his hands, mouth and tongue, as he rode them into a mass of muddled goo that broke the normal restraint they had over themselves. Crashing with the wave of ecstasy that he created, Ian shivered hearing them call his name in hoarse whispers or uncontrolled shouts before allowing himself to surf his own orgasm into completion.

Every aspect of having sex with a man was arousing and when the male was someone he had a true interest in, it was damn near mind blowing. However, like the women, the majority of the men that approached him only wanted to be with him for egotistical reasons. They wanted to be with '_the bastard son of Yoda and Clint Eastwood,_'the man who was '_a legend in his own time_.'

Ian looked back into the waiting room, having heard Nikki and Liz meeting David near the hallway that led back to the elevators. Glancing to Don, he was just in time to catch the lead agent motioning to him, Charlie already next to his brother.

As he walked over to them, Edgerton sighed inwardly.

While sex with women was easier, and satisfying, what Ian longed for was a man who could handle him on a long term basis; who'd be there for him when he wanted… when he needed… them to be.

***

Since David and Liz had driven to the hospital in his car and Nikki had arrived with Ian, the handsome black man asked if she wanted to catch a ride back to the office with them. As Nikki made eye contact with the sniper, he simply gave her a small nod and continued walking down the hall with Charlie. Turning back to David, she nodded, "Let's go."

As Nikki followed the other two down the hallway towards the elevators, she couldn't help but look behind her. Watching Ian walk with the young mathematician to the ICU, Nikki frowned slightly before turning her attention back to David and Liz where they were just coming upon the bank of elevators.

Ian was a hell of an attractive man and, if the little she'd gotten to see and experience before Charlie interrupted them, Nikki's world would seriously have been rocked by him, sexually at least. But the beautiful black haired woman was willing to bet that she wouldn't get a second shot at him; there was just something… something Nikki couldn't quite put her finger on, that had her knowing that with almost absolute certainty.

Sighing inwardly, Nikki let the fury over what happened to Colby, roll over her as she got into the elevator with David and Liz.

***

Ian let the professor walk into Colby's cubicle first but was entirely unprepared for Charlie's reaction to seeing his friend in the hospital bed. Barely stopping himself from walking right into the man, Ian vaguely registered the mumbled "Oh, God," before the younger Eppes whirled around and stumbled into him.

The sniper reached out automatically to keep the mathematician from falling to the floor after colliding with him. Holding onto the smaller man's biceps, Ian realized Charlie was shaking and he could feel the shorter man's panicked breathing. Moving one hand to rest against the side of Charlie's neck near the shoulder, the agent felt the clammy coolness of the pale skin.

Bending down so that he was eye level with the professor, Ian looked concernedly into the other's chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm sorry. I… he just…." Charlie blinked a few times before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "He… Colby just…." He gestured with one hand, arm flapping a little. "It just reminded me of my Mother when she was… before she died."

Ian straightened himself and pulled the younger man to his side, putting an arm around his shoulder. After Charlie seemed to settle a bit, the older man then moved them slowly over to the bed. As they got nearer to the unconscious blonde, Charlie wedged himself in more firmly to the sniper's side, going so far as to clutch the black leather jacket Ian was wearing.

Edgerton found himself nonplussed at the professor's reaction and had no idea how to extricate himself from the man without making something of the situation. Putting aside his puzzlement, Ian simply looked to the blonde they'd come to see.

The top and sides of Colby's head was wrapped in bandages; his face showed the effects of being beaten and then being slammed into one of his vehicle's air bags – Ian could barely make out Colby's split bottom lip and a portion of the nose area, all the way up to and under his eyes, being severely bruised, through the apparatus over his nose and mouth that connected to the tube down Colby's throat.

Ian unconsciously mirrored Don's and David's thoughts and emotions of earlier; the respirator – the _machine_ that was breathing for the formidable blonde – was a thing that unnerved the sniper.

Continuing his cataloging of Granger's injuries, Ian went on to see Colby's left arm was in a cast from the base of his fingers up to the middle of his upper arm and rested on cushions at his side. There were tubes coming out of various parts of his body; the one in his chest covered with a swath of bandages that the medical staff had opted not to cover with a gown.

Not really caring about being observed at the moment, Ian reached out, touching the blonde's chest, far enough away from any bandages, to register the warmth that encased Colby's body. A moment later, he could feel the man's heart beat; a steady and welcome sound that seemed to ground the dark haired agent and made him let go of the breath that he was unaware of holding, tension leaving his shoulders.

He was slightly startled when a pale hand rested against his on Colby's chest. Looking to the professor, Ian watched as Charlie relaxed just as he, himself, probably had. A moment later, as Ian was moving his hand away, a nurse came in to let them know their time was up.

* * *

_End of part three of Assaulted! sequel (untitled as yet).  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**Sequel to 'Assaulted!' **You really need to read that story first.

_Disclaimer: No money; just entertainment. No disrespect is meant to all those who created the worlds that we love to play in and the characters whom we love to read/write about. To the actors/actresses/beings who portray those characters, we wouldn't love them as much as we do without your talent and dedication.__

* * *

**AN:**__ Remember, this is fiction. However, this story deals with male rape and the aftermath of – in a very fictional manner. Most all of the victim's (or victims') mental/emotional/spiritual/physical healing happens off camera._

_If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please seek help.  


* * *

__Yes, you've all been very patient for this next installment and I just have to say THANK YOU and I'm sorry this is so short, however, it was such a natural dividing line that I couldn't help it /chuckle._

_As some of you know, I'm actually tied up with a variety of betaing as well as writing. I just finished posting my answer to the 'Ficathalon Walks Into A Bar' challenge and now I'm working on the Numb3rs Big Bang. The N3BB is supposed to be 20,000 words and has a due date for a completed draft (with summary, title, warnings and etc., by May 31st) so, I'm working on that (and don't worry, I'll post it here as well as soon as it's timed out over there) and I can already tell you that it's a great storyline – now, if I can just write the story as it deserves to be told /chuckle)._

_Anyway, thanks for your patience and your continued/continuing support of this series; it's much appreciated!!_

* * *

**Part Four**

By now, it was approaching six in the morning and, when Ian and Charlie arrived back in the waiting room, Alan was sitting in a semi-comfortable chair with his eyes closed and chin resting on his chest. Amita and Larry gave a searching glance to Charlie before passing them for their own visit with Colby.

It appeared that Don had already left to head back to the office and Ian frowned, not really sure what to do with Charlie. Given his reaction in the ICU cubicle, the older man didn't want to leave the mathematician alone; however, Ian didn't want to wake Alan nor did he really want to hang around until Amita and Larry were finished, even if it was only going to be for a handful of minutes – minutes that could be better spent getting back to the office so he could help Don catch the bastard who'd assaulted Granger.

Before Ian was forced to make a decision though, Alan lifted his head from his chest and looked towards them. Seeing the state Charlie was in, Alan was about to lift himself from the chair when Ian motioned for him to stay where he was, guiding the professor over to his father instead.

Glancing a question at the sniper, Alan simply pulled his youngest son down into the chair beside him. Charlie didn't really react, obviously still processing through what had happened in the Intensive Care cubicle.

Ian was just about to give a brief rundown of what happened when Amita and Larry were back in the waiting area and converged on both of the Eppes.' Taking the chance, the sniper left, hurrying to the elevator area and then took the stairs. Exiting from the stairwell fast and hard enough that the door bounced back to him before he was out of the way, he gave it another shove. As a security guard approached him, Ian flashed his badge and just kept going, heading for the entrance to the hospital and the parking garage beyond. He was in no mood to play nice with others.

***

Back at the FBI office, David had already found that the security footage for their floor had been compromised somehow. While he worked on figuring out that aspect with Security personnel, Don and Nikki set about making a list of everyone who'd come onto the seventh floor during the time of the surveillance outage. Liz was asked for her input as well while she was on hold with getting the footage from the parking garage.

Ian arrived during this time and he and Liz, after she was finished, were sent down to reception to get a list of all the visitors that had checked into the building for two hours surrounding the time frame of when the security footage had been corrupted. As personnel began arriving at the building, everyone who worked on the seventh floor was questioned.

By this time, Charlie and Amita had arrived and David gave them access to the compromised video as well as that of the parking garage that had finally arrived. As Ian and Liz ran the list of visitors, David and Nikki ran the one that they'd made from memory.

When Charlie came into their area of the floor, looking pale and shocked, Don looked a question at him.

"Amita and I were able to pull a couple of images from the security footage." Motioning the team to follow him into the computer room, they all hurried to see what had caused Charlie to react so.

The images of Colby coming out of the FBI men's bathroom into a darkened bullpen gave them the time frame of the assault.

Everyone was shocked for a moment before outrage started seeping in. Colby's assault had happened _right here_! Right under their very noses!

Don was the first to find his voice. Ordering a CSI team to cordon off the men's bathroom, he asked Amita and Charlie to continue with the footage, see if they could back up to the time when Colby had actually entered the room and who else had been in there around the time of the blonde agent.

It was at this time that things began to get… complicated.

***

While Amita was going through the footage from Security, she found several discrepancies in the logs all over the building. While one of the programs she and Charlie had created continued to work on cleaning up images of the video around the time of Colby's assault, Amita began looking at the other compromised logs.

As news spread throughout the building of what had happened on the seventh floor, unknown faces began showing up and asking for the agent in charge of the investigation. It was when the fifth person arrived, stopping another agent from their work, that Don called his team and the unfamiliar personnel into the conference/war room.

Before they could do more than get settled, three other people were escorted into the room. As each of the eight people told similar stories, voiced uncomfortably but with support from the others, more joined them until there were a dozen in all.

The team, as well as the twelve others, couldn't get their minds around what this meant, other than Special Agent Don Eppes' comment that summed it all up for them.

"We've got a serial rapist working in the building."


	5. Chapter 5

For those following this story on LJ, you'll recall that there was a 'poll that was not a poll' and the results of that was (a tie but I'd already chosen before I realized that) story option number 4:

'Don/Colby progressing from original w/Ian attraction near/at end -- calling for a sequel with Ian and a vengeful King.'

Well... my muse isn't cooperating the way I want it to and there's going to be a little change....

* * *

Part five of 'Assaulted!.' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated -- especially with everything that's going on at the moment :D Also, this is really short but it was pretty difficult to put together for some reason, probably because I was fighting so much for where I was trying to get the story to go... I guess that means the muse won, eventually.

* * *

It took a few moments for everyone in the conference/war room to process the idea of one of their own perpetuating such attacks. Sure, they'd seen it often enough – coworkers, families, employees, employers – there wasn't much that the human being did to itself or another that they hadn't seen, when all their individual experiences were added up, but it still made most of them feel ill to know that someone they worked with, perhaps daily, was hiding in their own ranks.

David, Nikki and Liz were assigned to take the dozen's statements while Don and Ian continued pulling up the personnel files of the list of people that they'd all put together. Given the new and disturbing information, Don also added a list of anyone else that had access to all the places in the building the assaulted coworkers had been.

Slowly, the team began to build a profile of the attacks:

** The eight men and four women had all been sexually assaulted while on the job

** They were all either in the building or the parking garage at the time of the assault

** None of them reported the incident

** Most of them had had a variety of injuries for a period of time (the week of the assault) that reduced them to desk duty with no explanations really given

** They came from a variety of departments throughout the building

** They were all agents that were active in the field and were trained to handle themselves

** All of them were considered to be extremely physically fit, spending time every week in the office gym and keeping current with the self defense classes that were offered on an on-going basis

** They had all happened within the last eighteen months

** All of them had no memory of the time leading up to the incident or the attack itself

** All of them had woken confused, in a dark part of the office, usually either after or before regular business hours

** All of them had been actively involved in a case or cases at the time of the assault

** While it was found that the women were straight, it was learned that each of the males were either gay, bi-sexual or bi-curious.

** There were many things about the case that were disturbing, of course, but this last issue was especially so.  
******************

Was someone targeting the males specifically because of their choice in partners or lifestyle? Since none of the team had noticed anything about their friend that pointed to his being homosexual, how or why had the rapist chosen Colby? Was the attacker stalking the men to find out if they were gay, bi-sexual or bi-curious before committing the assault? How many others had been stalked and not met the rapists' criteria? And what about the women – why those four specifically? Were there more victims that hadn't come forward, as the dozen they'd interviewed had, even now, after the crime to Colby had surfaced?

So many questions and, for all intents and purposes, they'd barely started the investigation.

Besides the lack of evidence and reporting of the crimes of the previous assaults, another roadblock was that the current crime scene was a bust. About an hour after Colby was shown leaving the bathroom, the custodial crew had come through and started their nightly cleaning. Whatever evidence there had or may have been, was thoroughly cleaned and totally gone.

As day marched into night, Don told his team to take off and get some rest. While no one wanted to stop, they'd all been up for at least thirty hours straight and needed to rest and eat real food – the vending machines had been well and truly abused today.

While the rest of the team gathered their things, Ian held back to watch Don. He'd heard David and the women talking about going to check in on Colby before David dropped them at their respective homes, all planning on carpooling the following morning, but Ian hadn't heard anything about Don.

As the sniper watched, the man in question used his cell to place a call. While Ian didn't want to eavesdrop on anything personal, he wanted to know what Don planned on doing for the evening. It wouldn't do for him to go to the hospital and have the other agent find him at Colby's bedside an hour or so later.

"Yeah, been a long day for all of us." Don nodded even though the caller couldn't see him, "I just finished sending everyone home, I want all of 'em to get some sleep before we start fresh again tomorrow." The agent leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he ran a hand through his hair. "Charlie mentioned that, huh? … Yeah. … No, no, didn't expect him not to tell you, I just didn't know if he'd fill you in on the whole thing before he got home."

From the last, Ian thought Don might be talking with his father but he wasn't sure.

Don nodded again at something the other person said and then looked at his watch. "Yeah, in about an hour, I've got some stuff to do before I get there. … Yeah, I was planning on stopping by on the way; see how he's doing." The man pinched the bridge of his nose, nodding again. "Yeah, dad, I'll be there for dinner, promise."

So, Don was going to stop at the hospital before he went over to his brother's for dinner.

Ian nodded to himself as he made plans. He could grab his own somewhere close to the hospital and then there after; that should give Don plenty of time to check on his agent and make sure they didn't run into each other.

As the other agent disconnected his call, Ian walked over to Colby's desk, he'd been using it for the day, and grabbed his jacket.

"Ian, still here?"

"Was just leaving. Gonna grab some dinner and then turn in; been a long day."

Don nodded, shutting down his computer, "Yeah, I'm going to head over to the hospital on my way over to Charlie's, myself." The agent looked at the dark haired sniper, thinking for a moment. "You know, dad always makes enough to feed an army… it's the Jewish thing you know," Don's chuckle was tired, the smile, drawn. "I'm sure dad and Chuck wouldn't mind having you join us, if you'd like."

Ian used the movement of putting his jacket on to cover his feeling of surprise. By the time he looked back to the lead agent, he was resettled but hadn't the slightest idea what to say. But then Don didn't really give Ian time to come up with a response anyhow.

"Come on, we'll take my car. We'll stop by the hospital to check on Colby and then head for Charlie's. You got a bag in you're truck?" Don was already walking towards the elevators as Ian blinked at the man's back.

_Ok, now what?_ Ian sighed.


	6. Chapter 6

Part six of 'Assaulted!.' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated. This is one interlude of at least three that I have 'planned.' I've also been sick for the last three days so… I hope what I've written is actually worth reading and understandable. Since this is short, there will be another chapter posted shortly after – but don't get used to that! /chuckle  


* * *

**Interlude – Charlie**

Charlie didn't understand why he'd reacted the way he had when he and Ian had walked into Colby's ICU cubicle. He'd seen a variety of things over his time working with Don that had or should have prepared him for seeing Colby as he was. After all, it wasn't as bad as looking at the bodies of children in the crime photos or… or any of the other hundreds of things he'd been exposed to outside of CalSci.

But the moment he'd walked in, an image of his mother had superimposed itself over his blonde haired friend and it just completely shocked and rattled him. As Ian held him close, waiting for Charlie to calm down, Charlie's brain had been going a mile a minute, and not with numbers.

He didn't believe in ghosts, he didn't believe that the living could speak with the dead and he didn't believe in hallucinations that weren't the result of drug use or some type of head trauma. But when Ian started moving them towards Colby's hospital bed, Charlie found himself frightened in ways that he couldn't understand and he couldn't help but seek the comfort of Ian's warm and strong presence, wishing it was his brother or father, almost expecting to see another vision of his mother laying there instead of Colby.

He watched as Ian had placed his hand on the blonde's chest and felt tension leave the body he'd pressed himself up against. Swallowing, Charlie had followed Ian's actions, wanting, needing to erase the unease he was feeling, needing to know that Colby was Colby and not the memory of his mother.

Charlie didn't really pay any attention to their trip back to the waiting room, or his handover from Ian to his father, much too absorbed in trying to figure out what had happened and why. Although Alan had asked, Charlie didn't explain anything to him; how could he when Charlie himself had no clue what to say. He knew that Amita, Larry and his father were concerned at his behavior, and Ian, for that matter, also – Charlie hadn't missed the sniper's hesitation once they'd reached the waiting room after the visit with Colby; but he'd just grabbed a ride with Amita back to the FBI office after she dropped his father and Larry off at their homes.

When Amita had pulled up the reconstructed image of Colby coming out of the bathroom, they'd both paled at his appearance and the knowledge that his assault had occurred right here, in their office building, on their floor. As they all worked the investigation and after the other… victims had given their statements, Charlie couldn't help but wonder if he and or Amita had been stalked by their serial rapist.

Had Don or anyone else on his team?

What had the rapist seen that made him target Colby? Like everyone else, Charlie hadn't seen or heard anything regarding Colby being other than what he appeared to be. But then again, Charlie had been told or accused, more than a few times, of living in his own little world.

What would happen when Colby regained consciousness?

The news of his… assault was all over the office – probably all over the country via the FBI grapevine by now. He knew that his brother probably wouldn't care, Don just wasn't wired that way. And, of course, Charlie didn't either; there were many people in the academic community who were definitely not mainstream. Besides, Colby had proven himself over and over again to Charlie, his brother and his other coworkers; something as unimportant as his sexual orientation, in his mind, shouldn't be anything other than a blip on the radar.

But many people had to have their nose in other peoples business and make their opinions known. It was that part of society that stirred the proverbial pot, kept it simmering – creating fear, dissent, anger and stress – with no thought for anyone or anything other than to watch it boil over. That part of society had made rules that all men had to live by and anyone outside those lines was an abomination.

By those thoughts, those teachings, Charlie was an abomination because he wasn't 'manly' in the traditional sense, or anything like it, actually. However, he was a genius and for people such as himself, those 'rules' were suspended, because brains were an asset to any nation that had them, they were a priceless commodity for the government.

And with that, Charlie and his like were so far outside the box that nothing they did could really be against the rules of how people should be regarding the male or female gender. The average person just couldn't wrap his mind around people like Charlie and, so, they were left alone, unlike those 'sexual deviants.'

Hell, if he didn't have Amita with him, at various functions he attended with Larry, most people thought that Larry was his partner – and there were no protests, no outcry of 'sinful behavior,' no evil eyes following him around.

But Colby was in 'a man's world.' He was a former soldier and now he was a Special Agent for the FBI. And despite having to deal with civil rights violations and hate crimes, federal, state and local law enforcement and the military had all sorts of horror stories regarding the treatment of same sex pairings within their ranks.

Charlie sighed.

Yes indeed; what would happen when Colby regained consciousness?  



	7. Chapter 7

Part seven of 'Assaulted!.' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated. This is one interlude of at least three that I have 'planned.' I've also been sick for the last three days so… I hope what I've written is actually worth reading and understandable.  


* * *

The ride to the hospital was quiet. Unknown to Don and Ian, the bulk of their thoughts paralleled each others – focused on the younger man in the ICU and, especially, how to visit him without the other analyzing them.

However, when they reached the hospital, it was resolved for them with a simple question from Doctor Bethany asking for a moment of Don's time. As he moved away with her, Ian continued to Colby's cubicle.

Walking into the open room, Ian took in everything at a glance. Nothing had really changed since the last time he'd been here and he advanced on the bed making sure to stand in such a way that he could touch Colby but see what was going on beyond the cubicle windows as well.

Looking at the man in the hospital bed, Ian assessed the blonde. With Colby unconscious, Ian was somewhat surprised at how unguarded he appeared. While everyone wore masks, Ian had expected Colby to have eased up on his since the undercover op was finished; had expected Colby to be more unguarded now then when he'd been a spy, but… apparently, Colby still had reservations.

Ian frowned. What else was Granger hiding if he felt the need to wear such a mask on a daily basis, that his unguarded appearance while unconscious was so revealing? Could the weight of hiding his sexuality be causing him that much pain and turmoil?

Despite Ian's care in his positioning, he was so focused on Colby that he didn't notice Don outside the cubicle, watching.

***

Don stopped outside Colby's room, watching the sniper, his complete focus on the unconscious blonde. Rumors hinted that Ian was as attracted to men as he was to women. However, no one wanted to be accused of judging him because… well… he was Ian Edgerton. If you valued your life or your job, you didn't play around with Ian because you'd lose.

And obviously Ian was interested in Colby.

Don snorted inwardly, who wouldn't be? The question was, how interested was he and was Don willing to put himself out there and on the line to make Ian back off.

As Don walked into the room, Ian straightened from his slight lean into the hospital bed, taking his hand away from where he'd had it on Colby's shoulder. He knew he'd compromised himself by getting too focused on Colby, giving himself away when he looked Don in the eyes and knew the other man had seen exactly what Ian hadn't wanted anyone to know.

Exchanging glares, Ian found determination and warning in the other man's gaze. Apparently Don had finally decided that he wanted to stake his own claim on Colby and while Ian respected and liked the man, Ian didn't back off from things he wanted, especially when told to do so. Ian's eyes radiated all that Don's did, and more, back to the lead agent.

Ian wasn't surprised that Don didn't back down from him; it was just one more thing that he found sexy and very attractive about the elder Eppes brother.

Don's glare dimmed slightly, "Give me a few."

Ian followed Don's lead and allowed himself to take a breath before nodding his head once and moving out of the cubicle, giving him his own few moments with Colby.

Unknowingly, Don made the same observation that Ian had done moments earlier while moving a hand to Colby's shoulder, gently squeezing it.

Don looked at Colby's unconscious face a bit longer. "You've been through a lot haven't you, buddy." A statement of fact, not a question, Don whispered. "We've all been through a lot, all of us, together."

Ian silently moved back to the cubicle doorway.

"And we'll get you through this too, buddy. I promise." Don rubbed his thumb back and forth where it lay on the skin of Colby's shoulder. He closed his eyes momentarily, allowing himself to feel the warmth and strength that lay coiled within the unconscious man, giving his shoulder another gentle squeeze before standing up.

Once again, he and Ian locked gazes momentarily as Don moved to the doorway of the cubicle before they strode out of ICU together.

***

Striding through ICU, going back down in the elevator, through the rest of the hospital, out the entrance and into the parking lot… not a word was spoken between the agents. However, as soon as the doors closed on Don's SUV, Ian opened his mouth – and was promptly interrupted and run over by the other man.

"We are not discussing this now. We need to find Colby's attacker and deal with everything this case has brought to light before we do anything… about…." Don trailed off, a gesture of hand and arm obviously being used to mean everything regarding… everything.

Ian sighed and turned his head away from Don, understanding all Don said and everything he didn't.

Moments later, they were on the road heading to Charlie's, each of the men once again wrapped up in their own thoughts.  


* * *

As Charlie set the table, his mind still going over everything that had happened over the last day and a half, Don walked in to the house, Ian trailing behind by a couple of steps.

"Hey, Charlie." Don greeted when his brother didn't respond to their presence.

Blinking, Charlie looked up, "Oh, Don, hi. And you brought Agent Edgerton."

Ian's mouth turned up just slightly, "Hello, Professor."

Charlie smiled, realizing how ridiculous it was to be so formal in his own home, especially when he wasn't in the office, with the other man. "Sorry. I'm a bit preoccupied."

"You have been since you saw Colby. Hello Donnie, and Agent Edgerton, welcome." Alan was carrying in a corning ware dish, his hands protected from the heat with two hot pads.

"Mr. Eppes." Ian said politely, nodding his head once.

Having deposited the hot dish on the table, Alan extended his hand, "Please, it's Alan. I take it, Donnie invited you for dinner?"

"Ian and yes, I hope he wasn't overstepping himself."

Charlie snorted, Alan gave a noncommittal smile and Don simply went into the kitchen to grab some beers.

"Please, have a seat, Charlie and I were just getting ready to eat."

Moments later, the four men were in the midst of decimating the meal that Alan had prepared for them while conversing over a variety of topics. By tacit agreement, they all steered clear of anything to do with the case regarding Colby, understanding that it would be something for when they were finished.

When the table was cleared, everything was cleaned up and Ian had complimented Alan and thanked them all for letting him share dinner with them, Don filled his brother and father in on the aspects of the case that Charlie didn't know or hadn't told their dad.

"Doctor Bethany caught me when we were visiting Colby and gave me the results of the tox screen they'd done on him. If it hadn't been for the car accident bringing it to our attention, they never would have gotten any sign of the drug. As it was, there was only a trace left in his system by the time they got him to the ER." Glancing around, he continued, "It was Rohypnol."

"They'll start taking him off the sedative tomorrow." Don spoke into the silence that followed.

A moment later and Alan decided to see if, by having Don, and perhaps Ian, present, he could get his youngest son to tell him what was on his mind.

"Charlie, you've been really quiet and… preoccupied since seeing Colby in the ICU. Is there something wrong?" 'Preoccupied' was a mild term as he'd been acting withdrawn, almost like he had when Charlie first started college and that concerned Alan, very much.

"Dad, I told you it wasn't anything to worry about. I'm just… concerned about Colby and catching the guy who did this, to all of them." Charlie attempted to bypass the subject once again.

Don saw what his dad did and tilted his head just a bit to the right. Yeah, something was eating at his brother and he wanted to know what it was too.

"Charlie, this case… it hits really close to home, I can't blame you for being a little off you're game." When Charlie jerked his head up from his wine glass and looked over to him with a retort on his lips, Don continued, "I am too."

His younger brother blinked.

Don waited. By telling Charlie that he wasn't as all together as he appeared, he hoped that his brother would open up about whatever was weighing on his mind.

After a moment, Charlie took a breath and just spit it out. "I saw mom when I went into the ICU." While Ian had expected Charlie to say something like that, he hadn't expected the other Eppes' to react so; but then again, he didn't know the circumstances of her passing.

"What do you mean you saw your mother?" Alan was frowning, obviously concerned.

Charlie sighed and looked at Ian and then Don before looking back to his father. "The moment I walked into ICU, it was… like my memory of seeing mom took over and she was in the hospital bed, superimposed over Colby." He shrugged, looking down into his wine glass.

When Alan opened his mouth, Don made a stopping gesture as he leaned forward, placing a hand on his brother's knee and waiting for Charlie to look up to him.

"Has this ever happened before, Charlie?" Don's voice was gentle, filled with understanding, and his brother shook his head.

Ian had been watching the interaction of the Eppes men all evening, wondering at the dynamic that pulled them and kept them together. But when Don started his one-on-one with his brother, he was riveted. Ian had never seen Don in any type of 'gentle' moment and he was captivated by the tenderness that was radiating from the man to his brother.

As Ian continued to watch, Don moved the hand from Charlie's knee up to his shoulder. "Charlie… sometimes… when people we care about are in danger, our mind brings up images of past events that we've been through, to remind us how we got through them. To remind us how strong we really are."

"But I wasn't. We all know that I stayed out there," Charlie flung an arm out, motioning in the direction of the garage, "working on an equation that's never been solved, that will probably never be solved. You and dad were the ones who were strong; you moved back to LA to be here; you two were there for mom when I was… and then when she died…" Charlie trailed off, raising a hand to his face, shocked to find tears on his cheeks.

Don immediately moved next to his brother, where he was sitting on the floor, and pulled him into a hug, whispering to him as he caressed his back.

Alan sighed, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, but bringing it back down and opening them when he sensed movement to his left. As Ian made to get up out of his chair, Alan shook his head and motioned for him to sit back down, giving him an understanding nod, explaining shortly, "Margaret passed away in 1997. She had cancer."

Before Ian could respond, Don was pulling back from his brother.

"Hey, Charlie," he spoke softly. "What else is bothering you? This is more than just… about mom I think."

Charlie raised his head, his face dry now and looked at his brother. "What did Colby do to make himself a target? What did any of them do? Did that rapist stalk you? Or Ian? Or Amita, me, Larry? Did he watch anyone else on the team? Why didn't we know about this guy before it got this far? How are we going to catch him, he works with you; he could know everything we've found out by now – he could keep watch on the investigation. He could get away with everything he did!"

By this time, Charlie had wrestled himself up from the floor and was standing, arms gesturing in wild sweeps.

"Colby and the other vi… victims, your other coworkers need him caught. They don't deserve to live with this hanging over their heads.

"And, what the hell's gonna happen when Colby wakes up? How's he going to be able to deal with another secret, something we obviously didn't need to know or worry about, coming out so publically?"

Don's brows furrowed and he snuck a quick look at Ian to find him looking at his brother, a similar expression on his face before turning back to Charlie.

Alan saw the look but ignored it for the moment.

"Charlie… do you have a crush on Colby?"

His younger brother had begun to pace during the last part of his speech and turned quickly, almost tripping over his own feet.

"What?! No! I love Amita." Charlie was clearly trying to figure out how what he'd been saying had given Don the impression he'd so wrongly come up with while Alan surreptitiously looked at his eldest son and their guest.

Letting out a breath, Charlie looked to the other three men in the room, "Colby has been through a lot. What if this is the thing that makes him leave?"

Don and Ian exchanged glances, their eyes speaking to each other of the real possibility and then burying it, turning back to Charlie.

It was Ian who approached the youngest Eppes. Putting a hand to one shoulder, Ian made sure that Charlie was looking him in the eyes. "Charlie, I promise you. You're brother and I will get this guy, with your and everyone else's help. The man who preys on those he's supposed to call brothers-in-arms will definitely get what's coming to him."

Alan studied Don and Ian for a few moments and then excused himself to the kitchen to make some coffee.

***

As Charlie lost himself grading his students papers at the dining room table, Alan requested his son's and Ian's presence in the back yard. While Ian didn't see any particular look on Don's face, the sniper did sense a slight unease about him and wondered what the eldest Eppes wanted with them.

"While I'm concerned with Charlie's flashback of his mother, that's not something that I can do anything about right now. However," Alan fixed a look on each of the younger men in front of him, "I want to know what's going on with you two."

Don sighed and made to open his mouth, "And don't give me any of this 'it's nothing' business because I've had enough of that from Charlie today."

Ian fought to keep the smile off his face and the chuckle deep inside as Alan all but took the wind out of his eldest son's sails before a word could be uttered. And, as Don tried hard not to look over to Ian, the man himself just took another drink of the coffee he'd brought out of the house with him.

"Well, since both of you don't seem to be willing to tell me what's going on, how about I just share some of my thoughts with the both of you." Ian could almost hear the groan Don wanted to make.

"You're both interested in Colby. And I'm willing to bet that Colby doesn't know anything about it because you two have just come to the conclusion that you can go after him because of this case." Ian's amusement died. Alan was a very perceptive man; the sniper should have realized that considering his offspring.

Apparently Don was a bit startled as well judging from his slightly widened eyes and his stunned expression.

"Ian, I don't know you, but I know my sons and if I'm wrong about you, I apologize." Alan stated to the sniper but before Ian gave him any acknowledgment, the man turned to his son.

"Donnie, your mother and I had a feeling that you might end up being the one to question your sexuality. Unfortunately, we never found the time or the… motivation… to talk with you about it, and then… when Margaret passed on, your being home and the three of us trying to become a family again…." Alan trailed off.

Ian watched as Don first squirmed in the patio chair with discomfort about having such a conversation, especially with him present, and then sadness and mixed emotions as his father continued.

"What I'm trying to say, Donnie, is that it doesn't bother me if you're gay or bi or whatever, just as long as you're happy. However, whatever it is between the two of you, don't involve Colby in it without talking with him first. You're very competitive by nature, Don, and relationships are not the place for whatever competition or experimentation that's going on between you two.

"Colby is not a prize to be won." Alan searched the faces of the two in front of him. "Or lost."

"One more thing and then I'll leave you to it." He continued. "We all know how much Colby has gone through with that triple agent business and now he has to deal with all that this case has brought up and out.

"If either of you unduly hurts him with whatever it is that's going on between you, I will be very disappointed." Alan said that last looking at his son and Ian saw Don's head lower. Of course, having your father be 'very disappointed' in a son was something that Don would take very deeply to heart.

When the elder Eppes looked to him, Ian didn't know what to say, or feel for that matter. "While my being very disappointed with Don will be punishment in and of itself, I have no such connection to you. However, if I find that you've given Colby any grief, I'll do my best to make sure that it's taken up with one of your supervisors."

Ian's eyes widened slightly before his game face returned but, given the look on Alan's face, he'd witnessed the change in expression.

"Dad," Don said as his father made to get out of his chair, "I… what…." Don sighed and ran a hand over his face before going through his hair. "What made you and mom suspect I wasn't straight?"

As Alan explained their reasoning, Ian sat and watched the two interact; he watched Don open himself up to his father and strove to understand the man more. When Don moved onto the subject of Colby, Ian just listened – not only with his ears but his heart as well.

"I don't want to hurt, Colby, dad. I respect him a lot and he's a … he's a good man."

Alan nodded to his son's comment, "Yes, he is." And then he continued, never breaking eye contact, "Then don't."  



	8. Chapter 8

Part eight of 'Assaulted!.' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated. This is another interlude of at least three that I have 'planned.'  


* * *

**Interlude – Ian**

When Don opted to stay at the Craftsman, Ian found himself sleeping in the solarium, which was pleasant enough, instead of Don's spare room at the apartment. Until, that is, two in the morning came and went and he still couldn't fall asleep.

As the night had progressed, Ian just couldn't turn off his mind, running through everything that had happened over the last couple of days, especially the evening's conversation with Alan…. The eldest Eppes was a very intelligent man, he had to be to have had sons like Charlie and Don, as well as to continue to be the father they obviously both loved and respected.

Ian strove to understand what he was feeling – something he rarely did unless it had something to do with following his instincts, more often than not, while on the job – and what was motivating him to do what he was doing. Staring up at the ceiling, he tried to bring his thoughts into focus.

What Alan had said had merit – Don and he were both thinking of Colby in ways they shouldn't, at least not yet. After all, they only had the actions of a serial rapist to go by regarding the possibility of Colby being less than straight; for all they knew, Colby could have been a mistake or signaled a change in the assaulter's MO. They needed to talk with him, not only about the investigation but also to find out if the blonde had any… desire for either of them.

Ian paused. What if Colby was attracted to one of them… or… or what if he was to both of them? Then what? If the blonde wanted to be with Don and not him, what would Ian do? What happened if Colby couldn't choose between him and Don, if he were attracted to both of them?

The sniper groaned softly and shook his head; this was just too frigging complicated to handle without any sleep. Hell, it was too much to think about to begin with – the whole thing could be moot if Colby _wasn't_ interested, in either of them.

But he couldn't stop his mind from thinking about… what he wanted…. A relationship. One with Colby or with Don could very well be the answer to his longing – however unacknowledged it was. They both understood what working for the FBI meant. They were both men who understood that the job wasn't just nine to five, Monday through Friday. Colby had been a soldier before becoming an agent… and Don, he was intense, never gave himself a break, never made excuses and got the job done.

Ian sighed again. But those very things that made them attractive to Ian also made things difficult.

All three of them worked in law enforcement, _federal_ law enforcement. This wouldn't be just 'another male relationship' that his superiors would turn a blind eye to, even if they weren't flaunting it. If Ian started something with Colby, or with Don, he needed to be sure that it was something worth the flack it was going to get – as well as everything else – to not only himself, but the other agent.

Or agents. … Ian thought some more.  


* * *

As the time approached four, Ian growled out loud and threw off the covers in a fit of frustration.

The sniper stood up, tipping his head back to rest on his neck, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling. Lowering his head, Ian walked over to the windows and let his forehead relax against the cool glass, sighing. He could sense the approaching false dawn and all he wanted to do was get some sleep.

With an inward growl of annoyance, Ian made his way silently through the room and then the house, avoiding the squeaky floor board near the bathroom and the creaky one between Charlie and Don's rooms and opened the door to the lead agent's bedroom.  



	9. Chapter 9

Part nine of 'Assaulted!.' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated. This is the last interlude of the three that I had 'planned.'  


* * *

**Interlude – Don**

As the night had progressed, Don had unknowingly found himself doing what Ian was – thinking about the situation he found himself in.

Finding out that his parents had suspected that he was wasn't straight was shocking. While Don himself had started to suspect that he was more into guys than girls at the end of his high school years, Don hadn't really accepted the fact of his sexual orientation until his early days with the bureau. As it was, he used his time in Fugitive Recovery to do some soul searching and a little bit of experimenting. Not wanting to do anything to jeopardize his friendship/partnership with Billy Cooper or his career in the FBI, he kept his research, out of necessity, to quick hand and blowjobs – usually in bathrooms that were in the vicinity of whatever hunt he and Coop were involved in.

Having realized that he didn't like the job of Fugitive Recovery, but he did like what he was hearing about other departments, Don opted to transfer to the Major Thefts/Violent Crimes division. He figured the variety of cases would keep him from getting bored as well as keep him busy and occupied; enough so that he wouldn't have any time to get himself in trouble.

However, Don was a very healthy, red-blooded American male with a very active libido and sex was very important to him. And while Don had found out that he preferred gay sex, it scared the hell out of him. Oh, not in the sense of sharing his body with another man or anything like that, but what it would do to his career if he were found out to be gay.

So Don proceeded to subjugate his desire for men and his need for sex with a bevy of female relationships, which caused trouble of a different kind.

Soon, Don had gotten a reputation that he really didn't want, one that was quick to attach itself to him despite his trying to rectify it and that followed him where ever he went. He'd become known as the man who loved-'em-and-left-'em, the unwilling-to-commit-but-for-a-good-time-fuck call type.

Over time, he'd come to realize that his reputation was what his life was going to be, however, because Don refused to even contemplate the possibility of a gay relationship.

And that wasn't what or who Don was, nor was it what he wanted.

Although he'd met Edgerton before Colby arrived on his team, Don had still been of the mindset that his reputation was his life and hadn't given the guy a second look… well… much of a second look anyhow. When Granger arrived, Don had noted how attractive he was, of course, but was still hanging onto the hope that he could have some type of 'normal' relationship with a woman.

However, over the two years preceding Colby's undercover mission, Don had found himself thinking more and more about the formidable blonde agent. When Colby had been revealed to be a spy, Don had… he'd been stunned… his world had literally been rocked with the news and he'd spent almost the entire time of Colby's time in prison being drunk, every night after work.

Waking every morning with a hangover had been hell, but remembering the cause was even worse.

When Colby had been revealed to be a triple agent, Don's world had just begun to settle from the previous allegations and he was once again thrown for a loop. To combat that, Don had flung himself into his work as well as getting back together with one of his previous women.

Watching Ian focus on Colby made him realize that, if anything was going to happen with him and Colby, Don needed to speak up. He needed Colby to know how he felt, and he had to do it before Ian did.

Don looked at the clock and sighed, almost four. He needed to be up at six and Don was damn tired.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone approaching his bedroom door.  



	10. Chapter 10

Part ten of 'Assaulted!.' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated. Continues directly after both Interludes for Don and Ian.  


* * *

_Chapter Ten_

Moving to the bed, Ian wasn't surprised to see Don's eyes glittering with the subdued light from an unseen fixture outside the window.

"What are you doing in here, Ian?"

"It doesn't have to be a competition you know." When Don just raised an eyebrow, Ian sat on the edge of the bed. "It's obvious that we both want him."

"And I told you, we aren't discussing it now." Don made to turn over, putting his back to the sniper, "Go back to bed, Ian."

Don barely registered that Ian had moved before he was on top of him. "Yeah, Eppes, we'll just go back to bed, pretending that we both haven't slept a wink all night or that we aren't both thinking about the same thing."

Trying to get the other man off him, Don bucked, pulling and twisting, fighting to get his wrists out from under the sniper's grip as Ian simply rode him like a cowboy breaking in a wild horse.

Ian, irritated and tired, almost snarled, "We _are_ going to 'discuss' it and we _are_ going to do it now."

Don was furious but kept his voice down, no need to get Charlie or his father involved in this. The restrained agent felt the other man's half hard cock and made a disgusted face. Bucking up, he purposely rubbed against it.

"You gonna let your dick do the talking? Is that what you want? Another couple of notches for your bedpost – first me and then Colby? Is that all he is to you, Edgerton?"

Ian's eyes flashed and like lightening, Don found himself flipped over to his stomach, both hands restrained over his head and held in place by one of Ian's and his head jerked backwards with the other tangled in his hair with Ian resting a knee on the small of his back and leaning over and above him.

"Is that what you think of me? Is that what you honestly think I'm about, Don? Really?" Ian was fighting to contain his darker, deeper emotions, not giving in to shaking the man enough to rattle his teeth.

Ian's mouth, just a few inches away from Don's ear, whispered harshly against his neck and Don swallowed quietly at the warm breath caressing his skin.

"Hard to know what I think right now with you manhandling me like you are. This isn't exactly how friends treat each other, Ian."

"No, it isn't." Ian's voice seemed slightly husky. "But it is how lovers do." And then the sniper moved his head around to face Don and crushed their mouths together.

Don's mouth opened with a surprised gasp and Ian wasted no time in using his tongue to plunge its depths. As Ian felt Don respond, he released the man's hands and head, using one of his own to run through the dark hair he'd just been using to hold the man's head up and the other to make its way under Don's tee-shirt.

When the kiss was broken with the need to fill their lungs, Don's voice brought Ian to a dead stop, "You gonna seduce me to get me to back off from Colby?"

"Damn it, Eppes, this isn't a competition!"

"Then what the hell is it, Ian? Help me out here; what do you want?" Don tried to push the man off him but Ian wouldn't budge, and continued like he was, but angry. "You obviously want Colby; I could see that at the hospital."

"Hasn't it occurred to you, Don, that I might want you too?" Ian had turned the other man onto his back and took a moment to rub his now mostly hard erection against the other agent's slightly hard shaft as he sealed his mouth to Don's once again.

Don wanted to moan with the movement and the kiss but swallowed it, pushing the other man away from him. "Who says you're going to have either of us?" He made eye contact with Ian and, to his surprise, saw sadness in them.

"Yeah." The sniper seemed to deflate into himself a little. "Who says I'm going to have either of you." And when Ian made to move off him, Don threw himself up and took the sniper down to the mattress, straddling his hips and pinning his wrists, smirking when Ian blinked and then glared at him.

Growing serious quickly, Don continued, "Help me out here, Ian. What do you want?" He repeated his question of earlier but instead of in fury, it was gentle, almost like when he'd been speaking with his brother earlier in the evening.

"I've been watching you two for a long while now," Ian started off quietly, voice soft and filled with emotions that Don couldn't put any names to at the moment. "Colby and you… Both of you are the sexiest, most desirable and attractive men I've seen in a long time." Don saw Ian's Adam's apple bob as he seemed to swallow with some difficulty. "If you two get together, I just want to be able to share in that…." The sniper trailed off before continuing, "I want to be part of your world, part of your lives." He finished, shrugging slightly, blinking suspiciously as he turned his head away from the man sitting on him.

Don freed one of his hands to bring Ian's head back up and around so he could search the sniper's face. Everything came together then, hitting Don all at once – not only his feelings for Colby, but the man underneath him as well; something that had been brewing in the back of his mind and in his body for much longer than he'd even suspected.

Don's eyes softened as he looked at the man he had pinned on the bed.

"You want to be loved." He stated, simply.  



	11. Chapter 11

Part eleven of 'Assaulted!' Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated.

As you can see, this is really short but. like I posted over at LJ: "... I think I've come up with what I'm going to do and where the story's going... again /laugh. And I'm really hoping you enjoy what I've planned because there are a few twists going to be happening.... :D :)) "  


* * *

As Don and Ian headed to the FBI office in a silence that was equal parts awkward yet comfortable, each was lost in their own thoughts. Apparently, just acknowledging what had been going on inside them was like hitting a brick wall; the exhaustion that had been dogging them had finally caught up with them between one moment and the next and they'd ended up falling asleep on Don's bed, to be awoken with the blaring of the alarm an hour and a half later.

Each had grumbled about how the short downtime made them feel even worse then if they'd stayed up all night but they'd quickly gotten themselves together, wanting nothing more than to get back to the office and continue the investigation.

By unspoken agreement, their early morning 'discussion' was avoided, even though they both knew that they had a lot of things to… figure out as soon the case was closed.

Before arriving at the office though, Don took them to the hospital for another check on Colby.

Since he was in ICU, guests, and gifts, were being limited. The nurses had been keeping the cards that were arriving for the agent while stating that the flowers, balloons and stuffed animals accompanying them had to be taken elsewhere. However, apparently they weren't even allowing the cards now simply because there wasn't anywhere to put them. If the stack of well wishes on the over-the-bed table was anything to go by, Colby's cubicle at the office was going to be overwhelmed with all the offerings of his coworkers and peers.

Doctor Bethany was making rounds of the ICU when Don and Ian arrived and she let them know that they had started decreasing the sedation of the hospitalized agent. With any luck, Colby would be awake or aware enough some time in the early evening for them to find out how the head injury was affecting him.

Don had contemplated putting some security on his injured agent but, with the serial rapist being one of their own and the only people Don trusted at the moment being his team, there just wasn't enough manpower to do it. With that in mind, he had impressed the ICU staff with the need to be very observant of Colby, saying that the person who'd assaulted him hadn't been caught yet and might try to get to the agent to make sure he was never identified.

There wasn't any real need for him to mention that the perpetrator was in law enforcement, let alone an employee of the bureau, because they didn't need that type of thing circulating, nor did he want the type of panic that it could cause, especially in the hospital.

***

A few minutes later, when they reached the office, Don filled the rest of the team in on the news. It wasn't much but it was something positive and the atmosphere of the bullpen lightened minutely. As always, there were other cases to focus on and, even though the Assistant Director had prioritized the FBI serial rapist as their number one case, when things slowed down on it – waiting for research, leads or such to be processed – the team worked on others.

With the end of the day, Don had been ordered to give his team Sunday off – they needed some downtime – and, even though he was upset and frustrated, Don knew that all of them needed some time to recharge. Sighing inwardly, he sent all of them home, making sure they'd all be in at seven on Monday morning unless something came up that needed their presence.

Almost as one, they all ended up at the hospital about the same time, anxious to see if their friend and coworker had awakened yet. When they walked into ICU, however, they were shocked to find that the alarm they'd been hearing growing steadily louder as they'd gotten closer, was for Colby's cubicle, which seemed to be filled with machines and medical personnel.

It was hard holding themselves back from running over, asking questions or trying to help – even if there was nothing any of them could do – and simply standing and staying out of the way. The worried knot watched as all manner of things was done to Colby before one of the nurses pulled the curtain, cutting the cubicle off from view.

***

When all the alarms had been silent for a few moments, Doctor Bethany came out of Agent Granger's cubicle, obviously concerned, and headed straight for the nurses station. Before any of the FBI agents could move though, a nurse approached them, trying to soothe them and get them to move to the waiting room area as Don watched the doctor make a phone call. Several of them opened their mouths to protest but Don continued to focus on Doctor Bethany, who had turned away from the group near the entrance of the ICU ward.

"One of the doctors will come out to let you know what they can just as soon as they're able." The nurse said firmly as she successfully maneuvered them out of the immediate area and towards the waiting room.

***

Three hours later it looked like a repeat of when Colby had been admitted on Thursday night. Alan, Amita, Charlie and Larry had joined them and they were in similar positions spaced out around the ICU waiting room area. Don had paced for a good portion of the time but had finally settled to a standing position a few feet away from the window that Ian was decidedly not staring out into the LA evening from.

When the doors to the ward opened, all of them looked to find Doctor Bethany once again striding towards them.

Waving them all to a seat, she took one close to Don, who'd followed Ian over.

"I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come and fill you in on what's going on but I've been consulting with a couple of other doctors." She started, looking to each of them. Frowning slightly, she took a breath before continuing. "Agent Granger's head injuries are more severe than we had believed and, when we attempted to take him off the sedative, his system went into shock – something that he might have done at some point when he was admitted if we hadn't sedated him when we did.

"After Colby coded, I ordered some scans and tests and then, after consulting with a couple of our doctors from the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, we've changed my diagnosis to a severe head injury or Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI."

Tense silence filled the room before Alan broke it.

"Severe head injury… Traumatic Brain Injury?" He questioned softly.

Doctor Bethany nodded slightly. "A head injury is a TBI but in a broader category because the head injury can involve damage to other things besides the brain, like the scalp and skull – which obviously did happen. TBI is classified based on the severity of the injury; a blow, jolt or some type of penetrating injury that disrupts the function of the brain."

"What does all that mean?" Don asked.

The doctor sighed. "What that means for Colby is that we won't know how severe the TBI is until he wakes but that the injury is causing abnormal functioning of the brain and the body." Doctor Bethany paused before saying the last. "I'm sorry, but when Colby went into shock, he also went into a coma."

***


	12. Chapter 12

_Part twelve of the 'Assaulted!' sequel. Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated._

_This is dialogue; an 'emotional' discussion between Don and Ian. It took some time for me to put it together and has been the only thing I've sent out to be betaed because I needed some feedback on it before posting. After taking some suggestions, I added more and revised a bit less so all errors and such are completely mine._

_Given that I'm a woman and don't converse with many men, this… well… just take it with a grain of salt and in the spirit it was intended /chuckle._

_At any rate, I hope that it comes across as true to character as possible._

* * *

Before he and Charlie left, Alan told Don and Ian that dinner would be waiting for them when they finished at the hospital. Don didn't want to go home to his empty apartment but he wasn't sure he could hang out with Charlie and his dad without being in too much of a bad mood.

He also didn't know if being alone with Ian in his empty apartment was a good idea at the moment. Don wasn't ready to talk about things and he didn't know if he'd be comfortable enough with him after what had happened so early this morning. On the other hand, going to Charlie's could yield the same results.

Ian closed the distance between them, without invading Don's personal space or reaching out to him, he said, "I could go for a beer right about now."

***

Ian had been watching Don trying to get a handle on himself. The man was an intense individual and when one of his people was in trouble, it was doubly so. Ian remembered when Megan had been kidnapped by Crystal Hoyle; they had almost come to blows during that situation – Ian's need to hunt down his target, Don's need to get Megan to the hospital and only one car between them because Hoyle had blown the other up with a grenade.

They had been on opposite sides of the hunt at that moment. The situation with Colby, they were on the same side, in more ways than one. Ian respected the lead agent, he really did; he couldn't contemplate a relationship, something long term, with the man if he didn't. If there was ever going to be the possibility of either he and Don getting together as a couple, or with them both as a threesome, Ian needed to start learning how to actually talk to the other man.

Drawing in a breath, he also acknowledged that, if things didn't go in that direction and Don and Colby were the ones who got together, Ian didn't want to lose his friendship with either of them. Telling himself to suck it up, he closed the distance between them and said the most casual thing he could think of at the moment.

"I could go for a beer right about now."

***

They ended up at a place near the Craftsman that had a good menu; Don intending on just having something to take the edge off his hunger and a couple of beers while figuring out what to do. Ian followed Don's lead but kept the thoughts of earlier in the forefront of his mind.

Beers in front of them and a couple of appetizer plates ordered, they sat in silence before Don took a breath. He wasn't good with relationships; with talking, in a reasonable tone of voice and honestly, about emotions or feelings but he knew that he owed it to Ian.

"Look, I don't know what's going on here, really. I admit that I've been… watching Colby for awhile… but… until...." Don sighed and swallowed, closing his eyes momentarily.

"Don, I've been interested in Colby for a long time… then I caught you watching him and, I admit, I was a bit shocked, but… you've always been someone I've respected and considered a friend." Ian spoke softly, his gaze never leaving the other man's eyes until now. The sniper paused, looking down to the table and then swallowing before looking back to Don and continuing. "Whatever happens… whether you get together with Colby or… whatever… I don't want to lose the relationship that we already have."

There was a pause, both keeping eye contact, before Don took a breath.

"You crossed some lines with me last night, Ian, and, frankly, I don't know how I feel about that. I know that I'm uncomfortable with the thought that you might try another power play and I don't wanna deal with that." Don shook his head slightly as he finished.

Ian nodded slightly and reached for his beer to moisten a throat gone dry with images of what Don was referring to. The waiter appeared and set their orders down, asking if they needed anything else and left quickly at their request for a couple of more beers.

The sniper's expression was a combination of guarded and vulnerable, "Have you ever wanted something so much, Don, that… you felt like you started going crazy sometimes? That the… desire to have it… the want, the need, just started becoming everything you thought about when you weren't actively thinking of something else?"

The other man's eyes turned inward as Don examined his own life before nodding slightly, "Yeah. It's pretty damn hard to get it out of your system."

"I'm great at my job; I love what I do, couldn't do it if I didn't, you know that. And yeah, the job chose me. I may not have been bred for it but I might as well have." Ian took another drink of his beer before continuing. "It made me a lone wolf, Don, and, for the most part, I'm ok living the life I do. For the times I need to get away from the solitude it imposes, I teach or get involved in another team's case, like I do when I come to LA.

"But… for all that…." Ian paused, looking away and then back to Don, a hand reached for his beer but just rested against the bottle. Then he continued, "Did you know wolves mate for life?"

Don shook his head, frowning slightly, wondering where the sniper was going with the conversation.

"What I said to you this morning was absolutely true, Don. I… I don't want or expect," he smirked and snorted slightly, "the Cinderfuckingrella fairy tale obviously…" His face grew serious, "but I do want someone there when I want them." Ian paused and then continued speaking, softly enough that Don had to lean forward to hear, "When… I need them." Ian looked somewhat sheepish, like he wanted to take back that last, but grabbed his beer for another drink and then reached for a couple of onion rings.

Several minutes passed as the two picked at their food and drank the beer the waiter had finally brought them, both caught up in their own thoughts – one waiting for the other's reaction and the other contemplating what the first had been bold enough to say.

Ian's patience was rewarded when Don finally looked at him, expression completely serious.

"Why now, Ian? Why didn't you go after Colby sooner? And…" Don took a breath, his confusion over everything apparent. "Why didn't you say something to _me_ earlier…?" Don trailed off on a slight swallow before continuing, "Why… what…" Getting frustrated, Don looked away from the sniper before finishing, "Why did you do what you did? … This morning?"

Ian grimaced. "I… I'm really sorry about that, Don." He sighed and clenched his jaw before making eye contact with the other man and continued. "I can only tell you that… I saw something I… I saw something I wanted, had been wanting for a long time… going from something that hadn't actually been a possibility to becoming one, but going to someone else."

He wished he was on the other side of the table, closer to Don or that they were somewhere more private. Instead, Ian simply moved a leg over and rested it against one of Don's.

The way Ian said what he'd said, it made Don think that he wasn't necessarily talking about Colby. That maybe Ian was talking about _him_, Don. However, before he could ask, he felt pressure against one of his lower legs and then he was continuing.

"I need you to understand something, Don." The other man had startled at the contact but didn't pull away, his eyes intense as he looked at Ian, giving him his complete attention.

Ian gave a small smile, "I told you that you two were the most desirable and attractive men I've seen in a long time." The smile faded, "Contrary to rumor, I don't approach people unless they have expressed an interest." He paused, "Like I said, I'd been watching Colby for a long while but all I had were vague suspicions that he might be interested in men – he did absolutely nothing to confirm or disprove my guess.

"When I found out about your interest in him, it opened my mind to the possibility of… you." Ian watched as Don blinked with that information. "With both of you, there was a definite attraction for me… but since neither of you were showing me anything, I… disconnected myself… from whatever I was feeling for each of you."

Breaking eye contact, Ian took another drink of his beer before he continued, "I enjoyed my time spent around you but didn't stay any longer than needed, not willing to make it any harder for myself than necessary.

"But then… at the hospital… I could see it in your eyes. You'd made the decision to talk with Colby after he woke up." Ian shifted in his seat and took a breath. "You basically declared your intentions and warned me about getting between the two of you." Ian drank the last of his beer.

As if the words couldn't get out fast enough, he continued in a rush, "In that moment, you had decided that Colby was worth going after – that he was worth the risk to your job and everything else. And now that you've done that, it… it opened up the possibility of… us, maybe." Ian had slowed down at the end and then sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"What I'm saying, Don, is… I want to take a chance with you."

Drinking the last of his own dark beverage, Don thought about everything Ian had just said to him; how much the man had put himself out there, how exposed he'd made himself.

Ian had made himself vulnerable.

To Don.

Someone he considered a friend and that he trusted.

And Ian had just declared that he wanted to give a relationship, with Don, with _him_, a chance and that that chance was worth the risk of what might happen to him, to Ian, or them, with regards to their jobs.

"What about Colby?" Don gave Ian's leg a light press meant to soothe the man.

Ian smiled and pressed back, "If this were a perfect world, all of us would get together. It would make a lot of things easier, especially when I'm away on jobs." Ian's smiled faded and Don saw something in his eyes that hadn't been there before but he couldn't identify it before what Ian said next shocked him.

"If we got together Don… I'd want to make sure you were safe… and that, if something happened to me… someone would be there to care for you. If Colby joined us… it would also make things easier for when… if… one of us doesn't make it home some time."

***


	13. Chapter 13

_Part thirteen of the 'Assaulted!' sequel. Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated._

_This section was difficult to write so….  
[Excuse the formatting; for some reason, no matter what I tried, everything kept going kattywonkis.]_

_**Storyline Inaccuracy:**_

_I created the current storyline based on inaccurate and missing information – that the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not have its own SWAT team/s (which didn't really make sense to me but figured that the HRT was what they used instead). I have since found that they do have their own SWAT teams (along with HRT) – and this makes what I had planned to write, not accurate and, perhaps, completely unfathomable from a 'real' point of view._

_With that in mind, please suspend reality for the duration of the storyline with regards to Tim King's SWAT affiliation not being FBI but actually belonging to the LAPD. (For those who want some of the notes I have regarding the FBI/HRT – and the serial rapists information – that I was using, please see the end of the chapter.)_

_**Some explanation is needed:**_

According to the Los Angeles Police Department's website, the headquarters for the Bureau in LA would fall within the area of the Wilshire Community Police Station, located on West Venice (according to MapQuest) which is 13 minutes, or a little over nine miles, away.

Not wanting to call the police station or do any further research, I have just 'assumed' that King's LAPD SWAT team operates out of several of the Los Angeles community police stations and that whenever the FBI needs it, King and his teammates are called in from whatever area they are currently working in.

Given this assumption, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch of the imagination to also theorize that King would be perpetrating his assaults on his fellow LAPD officers – perhaps even civilians – as well.  
.

I've never been really good with anything that involves strategy or tactics but I did some research regarding serial rapists so that I could try and give those who wanted more 'investigation of the crime' something to sink their teeth into. Not having expected for the one-shot story to turn into a series, I just wrote it with no idea of any real motive or behavior in mind. After the research I did, King really doesn't fit into any one type or category of a serial rapist – and he's definitely not as bad as I should have made him, perhaps….

***SPOILER* *SPOILER*** …. since we find out during this chapter that he's escalated over the time of his sexual assaults ***SPOILER* *SPOILER*.**

With all of that in mind, please forgive me for any inconsistencies and errors that are going to be showing up regarding Tim King from this point forward.

_**Dates of Assaults:**_

While it's not in this part, Charlie does refer to it. All I did was create 18 months of calendars, go through and try and have one assault per week and then created a list of names from characters of movies and famous people. I left it up to Charlie to find the 'pattern' /chuckle.

* * *

_[The living room layout is from what I saw of it in 'Sniper Zero.']_

They ended up at the Craftsman, with Alan giving them considering glances all through dinner. He looked almost as if he were contemplating having a repeat of their previous conversation; however, he retired for the night without doing so.

Charlie had kept to himself mostly, his mind wrapped up with his maths. After dinner, he sat at the table, in the living room, near the TV that was tuned to one of the premium sports channels Don and Alan favored. While Charlie continued working, Ian lounged in one of the chairs a few feet away as Don lay in the couch to the right and behind the sniper. When the hour grew late, Charlie bid his brother and Ian goodnight, heading up the stairs, his mind obviously still occupied.

Don's mind had been awhirl of disjointed activity all evening. When Charlie said goodnight, he startled; he must have zoned out or dozed off because he couldn't recall anything about the game that was on the television; his last relatively clear memory having been eating dinner. Rubbing a hand over his face, Don checked his watch, squinting to bring it into focus… He'd now been awake for… uh, Thursday morning to… almost midnight on Saturday. Don blinked, his eyelids heavy, the orbs themselves dry and itchy. Leaning his head back on the pillowed arm of the couch, he attempted to get his mind to think about if he should go home or stay the night.  
.

Even half asleep, the sniper was aware of what was going on in his vicinity. He'd been conscious of the professor working on whatever it was he was doing at the same time as he kept a weather eye on the elder brother. Don was absolutely exhausted but, for whatever reason, refused to seek his bed. When Charlie said goodnight to them, he watched Don startle slightly, mumble to his brother and then look at his watch. Before Charlie was even at the top of the stairs, Ian could tell that Don had fallen back into a doze, which he hoped would transition into a deep and undisturbed sleep for his friend.

Ian was used to long hours and sleeping almost anywhere, but he also knew that everyone needed _real_ downtime. Sleep deprivation wasn't productive or conductive, especially for people in their line of work, and he and Don were in serious need of real sleep. One of the reasons he hadn't yet gone to bed himself was to make sure that when Don finally fell asleep, the man stayed down and out for the duration of the night, at the very least.

Once Ian was sure the lead agent was completely asleep, he debated on moving to the hide-a-bed in the solarium. Looking at Don, Ian decided he was comfortable enough in the chair; completely ignoring the little thought that flitted close on the heels of his decision, that it was also kind of nice to be so close to the other man.  
.

When Alan made his way downstairs in the morning, he found his eldest son on the couch, covered with a blanket; Ian was sleeping in a chair a few feet away, boots tucked under the one he was resting his lower legs on, wrapped up in an afghan.

* * *

Tim King always checked in with the FBI for anything requiring is SWAT presence before heading out to whatever situation the LAPD assigned him to for the day. When he followed his routine on Friday morning, King was shocked to find out that the entire office was buzzing with the news of Special Agent Colby Granger's sexual assault and that it had been committed inside the FBI headquarters itself.

As the day progressed, King stayed in the building, covering his presence with the excuse of supervisory paperwork when there wasn't a reason for SWAT to be on location. Even if half of what was being bandied about wasn't true, there was still enough going around the building that King knew a high level investigation had been started; especially after several other FBI personnel had come forward to give statements of their own assaults.

_Damn it! Sooner or later, this'll get back to the police department. If that happens…. Shit!_ King's thoughts whirled.

King had been sexually assaulting coworkers for _years_. He'd been careful of drugging all of his victims so they never had any clear memories of the events; choosing people who wouldn't say anything regarding their missing time, injuries or, upon self examination, what had happened to them. King had purposely made a kind of pattern, making a circuit of his prey, starting with a Valley LAPD station and then moving to the Central area, then West and finally South before ending back at the Bureau and then starting over.

Since most department personnel stayed within their jurisdictional boundaries, there wouldn't really be any connection between victims, other than being employees of the entire Los Angeles Police Department, of course; the victims didn't really mingle, so there wouldn't be any reason to discuss whatever injuries King left visible on their bodies – and even if there was, the majority of the people he'd targeted were the sort who just wouldn't divulge what had happened to them.

If Granger hadn't gotten into that damn car accident, King would have been willing to bet big money that no one would ever have found out about what had happened. But now there was an investigation under way. And with the revelation of the assault on Granger, in their own building, other victims had begun to come to the fore.

On Saturday, King did his best to stay connected to the FBI grapevine while he was working out of one of the Valley LAPD offices. His tension had been mounting all day given he wasn't right there, knowing how the investigation was going. By the end of his shift, King knew he needed to blow off some steam but with the FBI aware of the assaults – his preferred way of getting rid of pent up energy – he wasn't about to chance getting caught.

King ended up at the gym but when the two people who'd opted to spar with him retired for the night, he found himself just as tense and anxious as before. The SWAT leader was completely frustrated at not being able to really let loose for fear of bringing attention to himself by hurting the other personnel.

Taking a few punches at one of the bags, he made a decision. It was something he hadn't had to do in years but with his normal prey out of his reach, there was no other choice.

He needed to go hunting…

* * *

"The pattern isn't holding."

Don looked up from his desk in the bullpen to meet the focused brown eyes gaze of his brother, a slight frown on his face. "What?"

"The pattern isn't holding. I started putting together all the information you got from the dozen assaulted victims and the pattern… we're missing something." Charlie was just as intense in his own way as Don was in his.

"Is that what you were doing this weekend?" Don stood up, wanting to be eye level with his brother.

Charlie nodded, "Yeah."

Don's face tensed slightly, getting a little harder, "Why didn't you—"

"Because you were beyond exhausted, Don!" Charlie replied sharply. "You needed to get some rest and what I've found only tells us that we're missing something, it doesn't give us any leads or anything." His facial expression hardened slightly. "I made the decision that it could wait until today."

Don opened his mouth but then closed it on a sigh. Charlie was right, he _had_ been exhausted. The majority of Sunday was spent at his apartment, dozing, if not outright sleeping, on the couch.

Nodding his head, Don thought for a moment and then headed over to the desk Liz was using. "Did anyone get a report sent over to LAPD regarding the assault yet?"

As she gave a smile and quiet 'good morning' to Charlie, Liz checked her computer. "Yeah," turning back to Don and his brother, "David filed one on Saturday but given it was the weekend, I don't know how far it's gotten."

The lead agent nodded his head once, "Get hold of them and find out. See if they have any files that match what we have; maybe the guy's going after civilians." Reaching up and squeezing his brother's shoulder, he continued, "Whatever you get, give to Charlie. He thinks we're missing something."  
.

As the morning wore on, they were interrupted with the need to assist the SWAT team on a relatively minor crime. Getting back to the office in the late afternoon, they were tied up with filling out paperwork until Don finally sent them home, telling them they could finish in the morning.

David and Nikki reminded him that they had court on Tuesday while Liz put in that she'd be heading back to OCD. As the three continued with their reports, Don sat down at his desk.

He leaned his head back, staring unseeingly at the ceiling before running a hand over his face and checking his watch. Bringing his head back down, he shook himself in an attempt to get his blood pumping a little. With his other agents out of the office tomorrow, it would leave him and Ian, who'd been running around Los Angeles, checking his network of informants for anything they could use on any of their open cases, in the office all day unless something turned up.

The paperwork would still be here when Don came back to work; it was mind numbing enough wading through it when he wasn't as fatigued as he still was, and Don decided to head home. He really needed some more sleep.

* * *

Forgot to add the notes /sigh...

**********  
According to Wikipedia:

The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's counter-terrorism paramilitary tactical team.[1] ….

…. The HRT commonly functions as a national SWAT team in highly sensitive or dangerous situations. Today it is part of the Tactical Support Branch of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) and is based at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.[2]

Also:

The relative infrequency of SWAT call-outs means these expensively-trained and equipped officers cannot be left to sit around, waiting for an emergency. In many departments the officers are normally deployed to regular duties, but are available for SWAT calls via pagers, mobile phones or radio transceivers. Even in the larger police agencies, such as the Los Angeles PD, SWAT personnel would normally be seen in crime suppression roles—specialized and more dangerous than regular patrol, perhaps, but the officers wouldn't be carrying their distinctive armor and weapons.

By illustration, the LAPD's website shows that in 2003, their SWAT units were activated 255 times,[8] for 133 SWAT calls and 122 times to serve high-risk warrants.


	14. Chapter 14

_Part fourteen of the 'Assaulted!' sequel. Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated._

_[Excuse the formatting; for some reason, no matter what I tried, everything kept going kattywonkis.]  
._

By the time Monday rolled around, King was in an incredibly foul mood. He'd spent the weekend hunting but hadn't found the kind of prey he was looking for, that he needed to assuage the pent up energy caused by the anxiety and frustration that was boiling within him.

Silently cursing Colby Granger for the mess he'd made of things by having the bad taste of getting into a car accident the very night King had decided to play with him, King barely gave any thought to the news that the downed agent was now in a coma.

Snorting slightly, King used the few minutes he had at the Bureau to catch up on the rest of the gossip before heading out to his LAPD assigned duties for the day.

As the day progressed, King's mood deteriorated even more. By the time SWAT finished their joint operation with Don's FBI team, King was almost seething with fury and frustration with regards to his favored hunting ground being off limits and not being able to keep track of the investigation; he had no idea how far along the FBI was with regards to finding out that he was the one they were after.

King had been perpetrating the assaults on the personnel of the LAPD for five years. No one had known anything about his 'extracurricular activities,' no one had suspected anything, about how he was getting his rocks off. He'd been completely free to act as the wolf among the sheep. But now, it was all crumbling under him!

Because of Colby Granger.

Maybe it was time to pay the man a visit.

* * *

After breakfast on Sunday, shortened considerably with the slightly uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere due to Alan's frank looks at the two of them, Don had taken Ian back to the office for his vehicle. While Don had felt somewhat obligated to offer Ian his spare room for the duration of Ian's stay in LA, he couldn't really say that he felt anything but relief when the sniper chose to bed down at a nearby hotel.

Despite their conversation on Saturday night, Don still felt off balance with the man. Knowing what he did now, Don needed time to process everything. While he'd made headway with his attraction to Colby, deciding to talk with the blonde agent as soon as Colby was up for it, the possibility of a relationship with Ian, or with Ian _and_ Colby, was something that he couldn't quite get his mind wrapped around.

Don found himself in the hospital parking lot instead of on the freeway heading home and sighed. Leaning his head against the seat briefly, he turned the motor off, grabbed the keys and got out of the car. He didn't know about Ian but he'd stayed away yesterday, taking his entire time off to try and put a dent in the sleep deficit that he'd accrued over the last week.

Several minutes later found him entering the ICU ward and, upon coming close to Colby's cubicle, Don found that he wasn't alone in his need, unconscious though it was, to check in on the formidable blonde.

The sniper turned his head, eyes intense, facial expression serious. For several seconds, the two looked at each other before Ian nodded his head and turned back to Colby.

"Don."

The man frowned at the coolness of the voice speaking his name. "Ian."

After several moments of tense silence, Don broke it. "How'd your information gathering go today?"

Ian raised his eyes to the other agent, holding his gaze for a long moment. Relaxing slightly, he replied, "Didn't find anything on our serial rapist but I got some leads on a couple of other cases. I'll check them out tomorrow."

Don nodded noncommittally and then looked down to the agent lying motionless in the hospital bed.

Before Don could ask, Ian was already giving him the answer. "No change since Saturday. I stopped by briefly yesterday before finding a bunk."

Don looked up, nodding.

Ian had revealed a lot on Saturday and Don felt the need to try and give back to the man. After a slight sigh and a false start, Don walked around to the other side of the bed. Approaching the sniper carefully and somewhat uncertainly, Don raised a hand up and rested it on the nearest shoulder. He needed to explain, at least a little.

"I… I need some time, Ian. You caught me off guard with everything you said the other night and I just… need some time to… work through everything."

Ian had tensed slightly as Don walked around the bed and then more when Don had raised his hand and put it on his shoulder. Looking at the man for several seconds, searching his face, his eyes for the truth, Ian relaxed. Taking a breath, he nodded once, acknowledging Don's need, "Ok."

Don gave a small smile, letting out a breath, feeling as if some weight had been lifted from him. As he turned back to Colby, Don caught Ian's answering minute grin even as the other man raised one of his own hands and set it lightly upon the one he left on the sniper's shoulder.

_Things might work themselves out after all_, he thought.  
...

Unknown to either of the agents, they were being intensely observed.

Tim King had made his way to the hospital some time ago but had been stopped from entering Colby Granger's cubicle by the presence of Ian Edgerton. At first, King had simply thought that Edgerton was there to check on the status of a fellow agent, but as the minutes passed, he realized that Granger was something more to the premiere sniper. And when Edgerton had taken one of the unconscious man's hands in his, entwining their fingers, King clenched his jaw.

_Well, well, well. Seems as if Granger wasn't making googoo eyes at Edgerton for nothing._ King thought, surprised and slightly shocked.

When King saw Eppes approaching, he silently moved into another patient's cubicle and watched the confrontation he knew would take place.

Except, it didn't happen. And then Don moved over to stand beside Ian, his hand going to one of the sniper's shoulders… and then they stood there, touching each other while looking down at the unconscious blonde.

_Fucking son of a bitch!_ King's jaws clamped shut, strangling the shouted curse as he saw red. It took everything he had to keep himself from moving and to remain calm.

King made his way out of the ICU ward without drawing so much as a twitch from Edgerton or Eppes. Once in the safety of the vehicle he was using, King cussed up a blue streak, raging against the steering wheel and dashboard. Turning the motor on, he gunned the engine, tires squealing as he tore out of the parking lot.

A few blocks later, one of LA's finest was behind King's speeding vehicle and the SWAT team leader cussed out loud and pounded a fist into the dashboard. Pulling over, King found himself on a dark street, an alley just a few feet in front of his bumper.

When the officer approached the driver's door, King had a sickeningly wicked smile on his face.  
...

When all was said and done, King walked out of the alley, his knuckles bloody, body sated by the thoroughly aggressive rape of the male officer that had been on his radar for a short time. He felt completely satisfied, the feelings of anxiety and frustration that he'd been carrying around for days finally appeased.

King had thought of the possibility of grabbing Colby and taking his ire out on the man that had thrown the proverbial wrench into his perfect life but, having been confronted with Edgerton and then having Eppes show up, he'd thrown that idea out. And besides, Colby _had_ been in a coma. Having him wouldn't have been any challenge or fun.

Getting back into the vehicle he'd borrowed for the night, King headed away from the broken and dead body left on the dirty pavement near the base of a dumpster. He had to get rid of the car and find somewhere to take a shower. Burning the clothes wouldn't be a problem.

Sighing with complete contentment, King started to hum.


	15. Chapter 15

_Part fifteen of the 'Assaulted!' sequel. Again, keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated._

_Don't get use to this two or three chapters in one day /chuckle; I'm simply on a roll right now and, as long as the muse and the 'pen' are of one mind, I'll continue to produce as quickly as possible :)_

_[Excuse the formatting; for some reason, no matter what I tried, everything kept going kattywonkis.]_

Tuesday morning found Don and Ian arriving in the lobby of the Bureau at the same time. Heading through it to the elevator, they both heard snitches of conversation; most of it revolved around the morning's top news story about an LAPD officer having been found in an alley – that was very close to the hospital Colby resided within, not to mention the FBI headquarters itself – neck snapped, brutally beaten and sexually assaulted.

There seemed to be questions left unspoken floating around in the air: Was it an isolated incident? Could it be that the same guy who'd assaulted their coworkers went after a police officer?

Riding the elevator up to the seventh floor, Don felt the need to say something, something that didn't revolve around work, didn't have anything to do with the tragedy that was being bandied about this morning. Despite the love he had for his job, Don wasn't ready to focus on the reality of what he did for a living for a few more moments.

"How did you sleep?" The inanity of the question made him wince.

Ian looked at Don, his eyebrows raised in question but, after a moment, he smirked. "Not bad, Eppes. You?"

Don smiled, letting out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding before chuckling slightly. He didn't have a chance to answer before the doors opened and they started walking towards the bullpen.

"Hey." Ian got Don's attention, face slightly serious, hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. "Well?"

Nodding, Don smiled slightly and answered the question; it was only fair. "Pretty good, thanks."

Ian smiled back.

…

Officer Joseph Murphy's murder had been a hot topic of conversation among the law enforcement community. While FBI personnel wondered if it had any connection to the assaults that had taken place in their own office, the LAPD were doing their very best at trying to find any leads on the person who'd committed the crime. The evidence they had – Officer Murphy's call to dispatch regarding the speeding car he'd pulled over and the footage taken via the cruiser's camera of the traffic stop – wasn't much.

Given the report from the FBI about their serial assaulter, LAPD shared their information regarding Officer Murphy's murder in the hopes of, in the Bureau's search for its own assaulter, coming across information pertinent to their own investigation.

The recording wasn't easy to watch, given it was a real person they were seeing who was being dragged out of range of the camera and not some Hollywood drama or murder mystery.

It appeared that Murphy had known his assaulter, though; his posture going from cautious to friendly as soon as he'd gotten a look at the driver. However, before Murphy could make another call to dispatch, the unknown man had gotten out of the truck and thrown an arm around the officer's neck, pulling him towards the front of his vehicle.

While Officer Murphy had obviously been taken by surprise, he reacted almost immediately, striking out at his attacker in any way that he could. His arms still free, Murphy made a bid to grab his nightstick but his attacker used his other hand to grab the baton from Murphy and then used it himself on Murphy's flailing arm.

As the assailant started to pull him around the front of the truck, Murphy had gotten a grip on his gun but his assaulter used the nightstick to club him enough for Murphy to drop the weapon. As dispatch was checking in with the officer, Murphy's head was being thrown against the hood of the vehicle before he was pulled out of sight of the camera.

Not long afterward, the unknown man came back around the front of the pickup, zipping up his pants and fixing the hoodie he was wearing. Getting into the truck, he drove away.

A short time later, when Officer Murphy still could not be reached, another cruiser pulled up behind the other police vehicle and, within a couple of minutes, Officer Murphy's fate was discovered.

.

The FBI and the Los Angeles techs did everything possible to get the video as clear as they could in the hopes of identifying the murderer but they just couldn't get a clear picture of the man's face. The truck turned out to be stolen; when it was recovered, it was found to have been wiped clean. Using the city's closed circuit cameras didn't help either as the driver seemed to be supernaturally aware of how to evade their detection.

…

The day progressed with Don wading through paperwork while Ian worked on the leads he'd picked up from his informants and then did his own administrative duties. His superiors were fine with leaving the sniper in LA to help with the serial assaulter case as long as nothing of higher priority came up.

At the end of the business day, Don was more than happy to call it quits. Paperwork was one thing that he had never liked and the higher he climbed the Bureau ladder, the more it seemed to accumulate. Standing up, he was about to look around for Ian and ask if he wanted to join him for a beer when the man himself appeared next to him.

At Don's raised eyebrow, Ian smirked. "Beer?"

A small smile graced the lead agent's face as he nodded.

…

David and Nikki were back in the office on Wednesday and as the four of them worked on narrowing down their list of suspects with regards to their serial assaulter, Charlie arrived in the late afternoon and began working on the files that the LAPD offices from all over the area were starting to send them.

The Los Angeles Police Department, in its entirety, had a lot of exact matches to the criteria that Liz had requested, but they had also included ones that shared only some. Charlie had opted not to pare down any of the files after looking at the information LAPD had sent and then had simply started looking through the oldest files first.

It was late evening, the office almost deserted, when Charlie was blindsided by what he was seeing.

…

"Charlie looked pretty focused on whatever he was working on. Should we have left him at the office, all by himself?"

Don chuckled slightly. "Yeah. In his own way, he can be just as intense as I am when it comes to getting something in his head and not being able to let it go." Taking another swig of the beer he was holding, he leaned further back into the couch. "He'll be alright. Security's tighter than it's ever been except for 9/11 and, if he finds something, he'll call someone about it. Probably me." Don chuckled again and Ian smiled.

They'd decided to have dinner together, take out at Don's place, and were now just vegging.

Ian wanted to know more about Don but the other man didn't really talk about anything except work. The sniper snorted inwardly; he couldn't very well judge the man because he did the same thing himself. While he knew that Eppes played things really close to the chest, Ian had hoped that, since their conversation on Saturday night, he might put in a little effort at opening up. However, Don had asked for time and Ian was trying to be patient, to give him what he'd asked for. Pushing Don would only make him clam up even more and withdraw from him Ian was sure.

Instead, he decided on talking about places he'd been to, either during his hunting for fugitives, his time in the military or on the rare vacation. Sooner than Ian expected, Don began adding his own stories of where he'd been and they continued until both of them were yawning more than talking.

Ian stayed in Don's spare room that night and they both slept deeply.

…

Upon arriving on the seventh floor the next morning, Ian and Don both noticed that the conference/war room's blinds were drawn. Looking at each other, they made their way to the door. Peeking inside, Don found his brother hard at work.

"Charlie? You been here all night? And why are the blinds closed?" Don looked concerned and then went to start opening the window coverings but stopped at his brother's almost shouted 'no!'

Turning back to Charlie, Don saw how serious and tense he was.

"Charlie?"

"Yes, I've been here all night and the blinds are closed for complete privacy. Get the rest of the team in here, now, and I'll explain everything to you all at once." Don and Ian didn't like the intensity and tension that was radiating off the professor. "And Don," Charlie looked at his brother, "You aren't going to like what I've got to tell you."

Don closed his eyes briefly before nodding and then grabbing his cell phone.

.

"Ok, Charlie, we're all here. What have you got?" Don's voice was tense, mirroring his posture.

"We started getting the files from LAPD. I don't know if it's all of them yet, but it's enough to establish a pattern. A very disturbing one."

All the agents had picked up on the tension but this notched it up a bit more.

"While there are several files, they aren't all civilian. In fact, _most_ of them aren't." Charlie started out.

Ian started to get a really bad feeling, picking up on the important part quite quickly, "Aren't all _civilian_?"

Charlie sighed, "Whoever implemented the records search request either must have forgotten to delete the parameter for police department personnel… or they suspected something that we didn't take into account." He paused slightly, "We got _a lot_ of matches, but they weren't all civilian. Most of them, over eighty percent, are employees of the Los Angeles Police Department."

You could hear a pin drop.

"What? You mean…," Don _needed_ to hear it, he needed Charlie to out and out tell him what he thought he was hearing, "What are you saying, Charlie?"

Charlie swallowed and looked at his brother. He hadn't believed it himself until he'd gone through all the files he'd had access to and then ran the numbers. "What I'm saying, Don, is that the entire LAPD is going through the same thing we, the FBI, are. According to everything I've looked at so far, our serial assaulter is also preying on the police department." Everyone just blinked, staring at him in shock. "The _entire_ police department." He finished.

Don took a noisy breath. "And no one's found out about it? How is that possible; it's been going on for eighteen months and—"

Charlie interrupted him. "It may have been going on _here_ for eighteen months, but according to the earliest reports," he picked up some of the files he'd been going through, "it's been going on for a total of five years. Up until three and a half years ago, our rapist was only going after police personnel. Before that, if all of these crimes were by the same person, it was happening for an additional two years prior."

.

While David and Nikki wanted to stay, they both needed to return to court. With Liz still working with the Organized Crime Division, that left Don, Ian and Charlie to go through all of the files that LAPD had sent them. Not knowing exactly who their bad guy was, they kept the blinds to the conference/war room closed; not wanting to spook their perpetrator, Don and Ian simply told anyone who asked, that Charlie had a migraine and needed the darkness – being too stubborn and dedicated to catching the serial assaulter, to go home for the day.

While Charlie created a timeline for their serial rapist, Ian and Don went through their suspects' files to find the connection between the LAPD and the FBI.

Late into the evening they toiled, Charlie now beginning to cross reference his timeline with that of the known whereabouts of each of their suspects.' As evening became very early morning, the three of them were beginning to had come to the same conclusion – backed up with Charlie's numbers, of course.

The only people who could really exploit their connections to both law enforcement agencies in such a way was someone on the LAPD's SWAT team.

…


	16. Chapter 16

_Part sixteen of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks._

Don't get use to the two or three chapters in one day /chuckle; I'm simply on a roll right now and, as long as the muse and the 'pen' are of one mind, I'll continue to produce as quickly as possible :)

A little Don/Ian here ;) :D "Finally!" I hear all of you say /laugh.

…

It was almost three in the morning when Don called a halt to what they were doing. They all needed some sleep before the start of the actual work day in a few hours. Then they'd have to bring the rest of the team up to speed on what they'd put together before sitting down and coming up with a game plan on how to investigate each of the SWAT team personnel without tipping their hand.

After that, it was bound to get a bit more complicated with bringing them in for formal interviewing before arresting whichever team member it was. And that was going to be pretty dangerous.

Yes, FBI agents were trained in self-defense and such, but taking on a fully qualified SWAT member without having some type of backup would be a really bad idea. While the rest of the SWAT team would undoubtedly want in on bringing their criminal brother to justice, there would be too many problems in choosing them to be the backup for Don's team.

Don leaned his head back on the chair he was using, eyes closing. Bringing up a hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose, massaging it and then moving the fingers to rub at his eyes.

_It'd probably be best to bring in HRT for the arrest._ Don thought.

Ian had been about to walk over and squeeze one of Don's shoulders, but the professor interrupted his action.

"Hey, Don?" Charlie's voice was fatigued from talking about the case.

"Yeah, Charlie?" His brother's seemed just as tired and dry.

"Are we sure that whoever it is in SWAT is working alone?"

Don's head rose from the back of the chair and he almost glared at his brother while Ian ran a hand over his face at the question. Before either of them could open their mouths, Charlie was already clarifying himself.

"I mean, we can't continue to have the conference room shut off from the rest of the office, it'll raise suspicion. What do we do with all this?" One of Charlie's arms motioned to the boxes of files, all the boards filled with equations, graphs, names of the victims and all manner of other paraphernalia with regards to the case. "If he is working alone, he's been utilizing his clearance to wander throughout the building. Even if we somehow bar him from the seventh floor – which would probably make him run – he's still going to hear the gossip that all of this is going to create."

Don sighed and Ian unwittingly voiced his thoughts about the office gossip mill. "For a bunch of people who deal in sensitive and classified information, people certainly talk a lot around here."

The lead agent smiled and couldn't help chuckling, his brother joining in. Don looked to Ian, finding him smiling also. "Yeah, torture us and it'll take awhile, but hang around the building long enough and you'll find out everything you wanna know." Ian snorted and the brothers chuckled once more.

However, Don sobered quickly when his mind flashed on Colby in the Chinese freighter and then the hospital. _And now he's there again and I'm joking about…. _Don sighed, shaking his head slightly.

The other two seemed to have thought something similar as they quieted quickly.

"Ok… very valid points, Charlie." Don used both hands to rub his face before standing up. "The only thing I can think of is to pack up and write everything down. Maybe use the solarium at home for all this until we get to the stage of arresting him." Charlie looked thoughtful at the suggestion and then nodded his head slightly.

Don gave another sigh, grimacing. "As it is, we're going to be in really hot water for not pulling in LAPD brass and IA into this." At Ian's questioning look, Don continued, "They're going to have the same problem we are. The guy's got clearance and I'm willing to bet that the LAPD has just as bad of a gossip mill as we do." Charlie and Ian nodded with agreement.

Decision made, Ian and Don boxed up everything while Charlie copied everything down from the boards. Once that was done, all three of them made several trips to and from the underground parking garage, putting all the paraphernalia of the investigation into Don's SUV.

It was almost five when they arrived at the Craftsman in two vehicles; Don's having been filled enough to prevent anyone from riding with him. The three of them then unloaded the SUV, making several trips back and forth through the house, to the solarium, waking Alan in the process.

"What's all this and do you have any idea what time it is?" Alan came downstairs, scratching his uncombed hair.

"Yeah, Dad, we know what time it is. It's pretty much 24 hours since any of us got any sleep." Don grimaced, shutting his mouth with a snap. Stopping in front of Alan, he looked apologetically at his father. "Sorry to have woken you but we needed to get all of this into the house."

Alan frowned as Ian and Charlie moved passed him with the last of the boxes. "What is all of this?"

"I'm gonna make some coffee." Charlie said as he put his box on the dining table and moved to the kitchen.

"This, Dad, is the serial assaulter case. And we can't leave it at the office because we don't want the guy knowing how close we are to catching him." Don said before following his brother, and now Ian, into the kitchen.

"You found him?" Alan questioned.

All three of them looked to the elder man before Don answered.

"Not yet, but we've narrowed it down," he looked to Ian and Charlie, "significantly." Don didn't want the case bandied about, not even to Alan, and the other two understood. Their father understood as well, even if he really wanted to know who could perpetuate such crimes on their own coworkers.

Don looked at his watch and then closed his eyes for a moment. Charlie was already fixing a cup of coffee for himself but Ian seemed to be waiting for Don.

"Ok, it's almost 5:30. I'm gonna sack out for an hour and then I need to get back to the office." Charlie looked back to his brother questioningly.

"I think the best way to do this is for everyone to get to the office and then I'll send them out for case related stuff. That will make it look like everyone's going about their daily business." Don stretched, a couple of vertebrae popping. "They'll all end up here, though. Charlie, you and Ian fill them in on what we've found and get them started on covertly investigating these guys. We need to do this as quietly as possible, for a variety of reasons." His brother and the sniper both wore serious expressions and nodded with complete understanding.

"I'll make sure people know I'm going to be out of the office for lunch today. I'll meet up with everyone here. And then everyone needs to make their way back to the office, do some paperwork or whatever until the end of business day. We'll talk about getting together for drinks or such after work – hell, we've all earned it – and end up back here." Don looked to his dad, brother and Ian. "That work?"

All three gave agreement and then Alan started muttering about what to cook for everyone for dinner and then he scratched his head and said something about stopping at the store for some party trays for lunch.

Don rolled his eyes slightly, shaking his head, while Charlie smiled and chuckled, taking another drink of his coffee. Ian just grinned and watched Don move to the door of the kitchen, covering a yawn with his hand.

Taking his keys from his pocket, Ian waved to Charlie and Alan before he headed out of the kitchen and towards the front door where Don's voice surprised him.

"You heading back to the hotel?"

"Yeah, solarium's a little crowded and I think, with everyone up, the couch won't be as quiet as my bed back downtown."

Looking around for his dad and brother, Don then glanced to Ian, coming to stand a foot or two away from the man. "By the time you get back there, you won't get any sleep before you have to come back. Why don't you just sack out here." Looking slightly nervous, Don continued, "My bed's big enough for the both of us if you don't mind sharing."

Ian was, frankly, startled by the invitation and looked searchingly at Don. "You sure you're ok with that?" He asked a moment later.

Don nodded once, "I'm tired, Ian, and it's just to sleep."

Ian smiled slightly, his eyes softening and then nodded. "After you."

The other man gave a snorted huff of air, grinning slightly and led Ian up the stairs to his room.

…

Despite being apprehensive, Don nodded off the moment his head was settled comfortably on the pillow. When he woke, about an hour and a half later, he found himself spooned in front of the sniper. Some time during their nap, Ian had wrapped an arm around his waist and Don found one of his hands clasping Ian's gently.

Allowing himself to take a moment, just a small piece of time, he permitted himself to feel the warmth and comfort… and unconscious support… that being embraced by the formidable sniper engendered. While Don secretly longed to be able to stay where he was, to actually bask in the warm and 'fuzzy' sensations, for the rest of his life, truth be told, he needed to get up.

Sighing, he made to move his body towards the edge of the bed and felt Ian's arm tighten around him momentarily before relaxing. Turning his head gently, not wanting to wake the man, Don found Ian's eyes already open and completely focused… on him.

Swallowing, he took a breath, "Did—" clearing his throat, he tried again, "did you get any sleep?"

Ian's eyes softened in intensity and he gave a small, unguarded smile and shook his head very slightly. Don watched as the man holding him took a breath. "I… I didn't know if I'd ever get to hold you again, like this." To Don's surprise, the sniper blushed lightly. When he continued, his voice was a little harder but he had a small grin on his face. "Even if it means not sleeping for another 24 hours and me being a real ass," Ian reached up with his other hand and ran his fingers lightly through Don's messed hair, his eyes becoming more intense and his voice serious now, "it was time well spent."

It was Don's turn to blush and, breaking eye contact, he cleared his throat once again.

As Ian slowly began to unwrap his arm from Don's waist, Don hesitated and then tightened his grip on the hand he still had clasped hold of.

When he made eye contact again, Ian was very still, waiting for Don. Waiting for what Don wanted to say, for what Don wanted to do.

He turned to face the sniper, never letting lose of the other man's hand and then, before he could talk himself out of it, Don leaned in, giving Ian plenty of time to back off, to make his getaway. When Ian didn't budge at all, he moved in closer and gently, very softly, kissed him.

Before Don could break off or deepen it, Ian moved the hand that Don was still holding, around his waist and brought his other up, wrapping it around the back of Don's neck and pulled him into his body. Ian's mouth on his started just as gentle and soft but, within seconds, it had moved to one of clear intent. One that seemed to have been designed to melt whoever was on the receiving end.

As Don began to lose himself in the kiss, he pulled Ian as close to him as he could, wanting to make sure that the other man understood that he'd decided to give him, to give them, a chance. Rocking his hips slightly, he pushed into Ian's body and got an answering hard length against his own.

Ian brought both of his hands up to Don's head, placing them on either side of his face and grasped gentle handfuls of dark hair, mouth moving as if to drink Don into himself and Don… _whimpered_.

The sniper moaned, hips bucking against Don and then broke the kiss. Panting, he reached down and readjusted himself before squeezing hard.

Don used the moment to fight off the hard, fiery blush that had come over him with the embarrassment of whimpering. But when he met Ian's black, dilated eyes, his breath caught in his lungs.

Ian raised a hand up to Don's face, caressing it before running his fingers through his hair once again. "You don't have anything to be embarrassed about, Don. Just hearing you almost made me come in my pants, something I haven't done since I was a young teenager." There was no smirk on his face or mischievous twinkle in his eye, he was totally serious.

Don only had time to swallow before Ian was speaking again. "Are you serious here, Don? You sure you want to do this?"

He didn't think he'd ever seen the sniper more solemn. Don knew he needed to voice the answer, but his vocal cords seemed to be frozen. He nodded, trying to work up enough saliva to wet his throat to tell Ian that, yes, he was.

It had come out voiceless, but Ian read his lips, he read the intent that seemed to be written all over Don's expression and lunged in for another kiss before the other man could change his mind.

They were barely cognizant of the need to leave no marks or make any noise but they were something that lay very far away from the forefront of their thoughts at the moment. Don was just as hungry for the sniper as Ian was for him and they were wasting no time in making sure their partner knew it. However, before they could do much more than make each out of breath with kissing and getting partially unclothed, Don's cell phone rang stridently.

Ian tensed and then flopped back on the bed while Don groaned, scowled at the nightstand and then moved to grab his mobile.

The call didn't last long but Ian knew by Don's voice and body language that it wasn't good.

Don, sitting on the side of the bed, disconnected the call and then ran a hand over his bedhead hair before voicing over his shoulder, "Got another dead police officer."

"Shit."

"Exactly."

…


	17. Chapter 17

_Part seventeen of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks._

_This 'chapter' is essentially split into four parts as there are three interludes. While most of this was pretty easy to put together, the last interlude, ICU Staff, gave me problems and I'd really like to hear your thoughts on it especially._

……

Not knowing if the two murdered police officers were the victims of their own serial assaulter, Don felt the need to at least bring the Assistant Director into the loop regarding their investigation; more importantly, what they suspected.

Needless to say, Taylor Michaels was quite upset and was adamant about contacting Matthew Rivers, the Chief of the LAPD. Despite the arguments made by Don and Ian, who wasn't going to let Don take on the brunt of the AD's anger without some backup, Michaels made the decision to advise Chief Rivers about their suspicions.

The two were summarily dismissed from the office and, before they could even get through the door, AD Michaels was using the intercom to have his secretary contact Rivers for him.

Not a word was spoken between the two as they walked to the elevator but as soon as the doors closed, Don made as if to slam a fist into one of the elevator's walls. Ian grabbed his arm and Don whirled around, ready to rip into the sniper but the man was way ahead of him.

"I get that you're upset and frustrated over this entire can of worms, Epps, but busting your hand isn't going to solve anything and it'll just make you even madder in the long run." Ian's quiet certainty was like a bucket of cold water to the lead agent.

Closing his eyes, Don threw his head back so that he was facing the ceiling of the conveyance. Blinking his eyes open, he took a deep breath and then lowered his head back down, just as the elevator doors started to open for their floor.

As they began walking towards the bullpen, Don looked to the man at his side, his mind whirling in many directions.

Ian, sensing Don's regard, turned his head slightly, raising a questioning brow. When Don didn't make any response, the sniper smirked.

Don snorted and said a near silent 'thanks,' to which Ian barely nodded his head, before growing serious. "We do the same thing we had planned, only all of us need to be better than on full alert. There's no telling how fast this is going to get out of control and I don't want anyone as collateral damage when it goes down."

Ian was already nodding his head, "I'll stay with Charlie and Alan. If they need to split up, I'll grab David to watch Alan while I stick with the Professor." Seeing Don's shoulders lose some of their tension, he knew he'd made the right call.

Don nodded to the sniper and then continued into the bullpen while Ian headed back to the elevators.

"Ian!" The sniper turned back to Don, finding the man striding towards him. "Make sure Charlie gets some sleep, he's been working this thing since Wednesday afternoon remember."

Ian nodded, "I'll do my best."

"Thanks."

Now Don just had to get his team over to the Craftsman so all of them could get their ducks in a row and find their guy before he struck again; whether he was the cop killer or not, they needed to get him before he bolted.

……

King was feeling nervous, anxious and like the walls were beginning to close in on him. He'd found out this morning that the blinds in the main conference/war room on the seventh floor had been closed when the early birds had arrived. Gossip said that Charlie had a migraine and wasn't willing to go home without finishing whatever he was working on.

The SWAT leader knew that Charlie had arrived some time yesterday and that he'd stayed, working through the night, and that Don's team had been called into the room as soon as they'd arrived the next morning. After that, they'd split up, with David and Nikki going back to court and Don, Ian _and_ Charlie staying in the conference/war room.

If he hadn't been watching them so closely before the investigation began, King probably wouldn't have thought much about it. However, the investigation that would lead directly to him, sooner or later, made him a lot more mindful of things.

And this? This told him that they were far closer to solving the case than he could have predicted.

He watched the building that evening and when Don, Ian and Charlie worked through the night and well into the morning, King knew the game was up. It didn't matter if they didn't have his exact identity; what mattered was that they were far too close to finding it.

King had watched them fill up Don's SUV with boxes, probably files on the case, and then he'd followed them, using the tracking device he'd put on the vehicle a month or so back when he'd been stalking Colby, to Charlie's house, where they unloaded them. It didn't really matter to King why they moved everything; what he was interested in was what they were planning on doing. Unlike the police department or the FBI building, there would be no gossip that he could keep track of here.

When no one left, King seethed. He needed to burn off some energy.

What he'd done to Joseph Murphy had left him with a high like nothing else; it was the end of the week and still, no one had any idea who the murderer was yet, nor did they seem to have any leads. With odds like that and the way he felt now, King was willing to risk a second time.

But then… he had a couple of things to do before he needed to get out of dodge.

……


	18. Chapter 18

_Part eighteen of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks._

_This 'chapter' is essentially split into four parts as there are three interludes. While most of this was pretty easy to put together, the last interlude, ICU Staff, gave me problems and I'd really like to hear your thoughts on it especially._

……

**Interlude – Amita**

Amita knew that Charlie, his brother and Don's team would all be spending every waking moment, and then some, on the investigation that would lead them to the identity of Colby's attacker. She'd do what she could to support all of them, but she also felt, especially after Colby went into a coma, that someone needed to be there for him too. While she and Larry were just as busy as Charlie, there were many things they both could do while being in the waiting room at the hospital.

The two adjusted their schedules as much as possible to give one of them the bulk of the morning and the other, the bulk of the afternoon. While they couldn't be there all day or even every day, it was better than leaving him there, all alone, all the time.

Alan also joined them whenever possible, usually coming in during the mid-morning or mid-afternoon hours. When he was able to visit, he filled them in as much as possible on the happenings at the office.

According to the medical staff, those in a coma could sometimes hear what people around them were saying and that the atmosphere around the patient should be as positive and quiet as possible. Following these requirements, Amita and Larry, despite their wanting to help, knew very little about the man and, after struggling to find something they could do, asked for help from Charlie.

David seemed to be the most helpful when it came to getting useful information regarding Colby, which should have been obvious considering he'd his partner for the majority of the blonde's FBI career. Based on some of the things Charlie relayed to her from David, Amita had gotten a couple of books she thought might be of interest to, not only a possibly listening Colby, but herself as well.

Thus started Amita's education of the SCA, the Society for Creative Anachronism. When she arrived for her 'shift,' – ten minutes at the beginning of every hour – Amita would make herself comfortable in a chair at Colby's bedside and read aloud to him about pre-17th-century Europe. She would often get so caught up in the tales of combat, archery, equestrian activities, describing the costumes, music, dancing and crafting, that the medical personnel sometimes left her there longer than the time allowed.

Amita was surprised to find that she liked what she was doing – spending time with the injured agent and reading aloud to him, learning about the SCA. It was something that was so far outside of her normal daily life that she wondered what else she was missing by spending so much time in the academic world – not that she didn't love being at CalSci and what she did there, of course.

It was during one of these visits that Amita realized that she wasn't as much of an isolationist as perhaps Charlie and Larry were. That she was much more than her brain or what she could do to help Larry and Charlie be who and what they were.

She wasn't her work and her work wasn't her; she was more than the sum of her parts. And that didn't bother her, whatsoever. In fact, it was rather… freeing.

She loved Charlie and she knew that he loved her just as much; Amita was also secure in that knowledge and, given that, she knew that Charlie would support her in anything that she wished to try, to do, to accomplish. She hoped, too, that Charlie felt the same way with regards to her.

Pausing to reflect on her newest revelations about herself, Amita realized that Colby's eyes were open.

Blinking with astonishment, everything she'd been thinking went to the back of her mind as she called for a nurse.

……


	19. Chapter 19

_Part nineteen of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks._

_This 'chapter' is essentially split into four parts as there are three interludes. While most of this was pretty easy to put together, the last interlude, ICU Staff, gave me problems and I'd really like to hear your thoughts on it especially._

……

**Interlude – Larry**

Larry understood that 'no man is an island' but he knew himself to be more of a singular entity than the average man, or woman. His time with Charlie had opened his eyes to a multitude of experiences that he believed he'd never know or have the need to become familiar with. It was through Charlie that Larry met his brother and got involved with helping solve crimes for the FBI. It was through them that he'd met the rest of the team – David, Terry, Nikki, Liz, Colby, Ian… and Megan.

He and Megan had shared something special and when she'd left, Larry had become that singular entity once again. For a time, he had blamed, inwardly, Colby Granger for creating the circumstances that made it necessary for Megan to leave. It was unfair of him, he knew, because the man, himself, had made great sacrifices, almost the ultimate being his very life, for his country. It was simply human nature working and he had fallen to the base creature behavior.

Charlie, Don, all of them really, had a high opinion of the man who had broken their trust, been revealed to have been a triple agent and then had done everything he could over the years to re-earn all of that trust, respect and even their friendship, back again.

And Larry admired the man for his courage, his strength, his very heart.

So, when he'd been injured and then they'd found out he'd been… assaulted, too… Larry couldn't help the overwhelming shock and… _anger_… that had coursed through him. Knowing that Charlie, Don and the rest of the team would be moving mountains to find the person responsible, Larry had felt some type of 'residual responsibility' to make sure that Colby was… not forgotten, _never_ forgotten… visited… not left in the dark.

Larry remembered being in the space shuttle, circling the planet; a planet that looked far more fragile and delicate from the vast darkness of being out among the stars than it did when one was standing upon its very soil. It was… it was so lonely out there, despite all of the majesty and awesomeness that was the cosmos. Would a coma be something akin to that? To be floating in the darkness, completely at the whim of whatever body of gravity that exerted its pull on you or whatever 'space breeze' happened to catch you in its eddy….

Amita had suggested reading something out loud that Colby would be interested in; the point being to let him know that he wasn't alone. Larry had felt that, simply reading aloud to the man who'd been through so much, who'd given so much, wasn't enough. So, while Amita read him material regarding the SCA, Larry brought in the audio edition of 'An Album of Memories,' by Tom Brokaw, to be used until what he'd arranged could be put together for the unconscious hero.

While Larry's clearance wasn't as high as Charlie's, Larry could still get some things accomplished, especially when asking in the name of someone who had received numerous awards and metals – not only through his military career but his undercover work for the Intelligence Community.

A few days later, Larry was struggling to 'download' the audio messages from all the military personnel around this fragile and delicate planet they resided on, who believed that Special Agent Colby Granger of the FBI, had distinguished himself above and beyond the call of duty, onto an iPod that he'd bought for this project.

He didn't tell anyone about what he'd done or what he was letting Colby listen to; it wasn't important to anyone besides himself and the thousands of soldiers who'd answered the call to support the unsung hero who didn't want to be sung about.

……


	20. Chapter 20

_Part twenty of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks._

_This 'chapter' is essentially split into four parts as there are three interludes. While most of this was pretty easy to put together, the last interlude, ICU Staff, gave me problems and I'd really like to hear your thoughts on it especially._

……

**Interlude – ICU staff**

Although Agent Colby Granger got a lot of cards and gifts, there weren't many actual visitors, except for the two dark haired agents – Eppes and Edgerton – who came almost nightly. So, when Dr. Ramanujan and Dr. Fleinhardt arrived at the hospital to make sure their patient had someone there for a few hours a day, the staff was pleased to have the company for him.

While they were all professionals who specialized in the care of critically ill and injured people, there were some patients who touched them more than others. And Agent Granger was one of those – despite the fact that he was completely unconscious for the majority of his stay with them.

The ICU staff had all made themselves familiar with Agent Granger's file and they were all shocked to realize the man had been admitted a few years prior after having been tortured with a variety of chemicals. It was then that most of them made the connection; this man had been the FBI agent who'd been working undercover to find a spy within the Department of Justice.

Obviously the public didn't get the entire story, but it had been reported that he'd been incarcerated for five weeks prior to escaping with the other soldier who had been accused of treason and that's the day he'd been rushed to the hospital via a Coast Guard helicopter.

According to his file, he'd also been in the Army and stationed over in Afghanistan where he had sustained several injuries including being rescued from a humvee that had been hit with enemy fire.

Apparently Agent Colby Granger was a man who ended up getting caught in the thick of things, whether he wanted to or not. And this latest situation seemed to be… well, adding insult to injury. First he'd been sexually assaulted and then he was involved in a major car accident that had, as if that weren't bad enough, aggravated the head injuries he'd received in the attack, which had then sent him into a coma.

It was with patients like this that several of the medical staff wondered how people could continue to, not only live, but to thrive, with the way their life seemed to go. It was also the time when most miracles seemed to occur; as if the very essence of the person, who, for all the complications and heartache that seemed to plague them, fought even harder to get back to the business of life – instead of giving in to the siren call of simply letting go and seeking rest and peace for their weary soul.

They watched as Dr. Ramanujan, 'please, call me Amita,' came in whenever she could, sitting at his bedside reading European history and material related to the SCA. It made them smile slightly and chuckle a little to find that someone like Agent Granger could be interested in such things, but they didn't judge. Just silently gave thanks that the woman was willing to spend time with the comatose man.

They also watched as Dr. Fleinhardt, 'it's Larry,' spent time with Agent Granger. Now Larry… he was a very interesting person. Considering the conversations, well, really, the answers most of the staff had gotten from him, the man was very… esoteric. Not to mention, eccentric. However, he sat at their patient's bedside with as much intent to help as Amita did.

Larry didn't read aloud as the young woman did though. He simply brought in a CD player and listened to the audio book that he had brought for Agent Granger. Something about the military.

While it wasn't something the majority of them would have chosen to play for the man who seemed to have given so much of his life to government service, they shrugged and gave silent thanks, again, that the peculiar doctor was able and willing to spend time with their patient.

Not long after Colby had gone into a coma, Larry had come by with an iPod and placed a pair of headphones over the unconscious man. He didn't tell them what he was having Agent Granger listen to and none of them asked, or would intervene, as long as Colby didn't react adversely to anything any of his visitors were exposing him to.

After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

That said, agents Eppes and Edgerton were two very different people compared to Amita and Larry.

Over the lengths of their careers in the medical field, the staff had been exposed to many people in all stages of life, in all walks of life and in many mind sets.

The two dark haired agents were both intense individuals with strong personalities; a mix of aggressiveness, assertiveness, the weight of seemingly huge responsibilities on their shoulders and cocky arrogance that was, given the rest of their make up, completely well earned. And while they both radiated power and confidence, each carried it completely different from the other.

It was obvious that Agent Eppes was used to taking care of people. He would be the type of person who, while bleeding excessively, would still be trying to take care of whomever was next to him. He also seemed to be carrying a large portion of guilt for a variety of things; things he was probably unaware of or, more accurately, things he'd repressed over a lifetime, or that were so old they were going to die of old age before he forgot them.

The man was a dichotomy of 'bad boy' and 'oldest child.'

On one side, there was confidence, charisma, intriguing mystery, seeming indifference and unavailability. Then there was uncertainty, the burden of being 'on' all the time, the unnecessary pressure to be perfect and to be responsible, for _everything_.

Agent Eppes was the kind of person who would become a patient for them after something beyond his control – that he believed he was responsible for – went all to hell. It would be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back at some point in time and he would end up at the hospital with a heart attack or something worse, perhaps even a self-inflicted wound….

Now, Agent Edgerton, he was… 'predatory' seemed to be the only word that would describe him well. It was obvious that he was a dangerous individual and no one actually _wanted_ to know what he did for the FBI, really.

While Agent Eppes could be intimidating and very in-your-face, Agent Edgerton could simply look you into fleeing from the area around him. Some of them remembered him from the two times he'd been in the waiting room with several other agents, standing off on his own, with the others giving him cautious and surreptitious glances every now and then. Only Agent Eppes seemed to not be affected by the dangerous aura that radiated from the tall, dark and, yes, strikingly handsome man.

Agent Edgerton wore his power around him, like a regal cloak. It was something that was unconscious, instinctive and probably ingrained because it was the type that couldn't be learned or truly imitated. Agent Eppes wore his more like a uniform; it could be taken off when needed but was always available and could be put back on at a moment's notice.

The taller of the two agents was quietly polite and seemed to mind his manners, but he was akin to an actual big cat or some type of wild canine. He was the tiger in the zoo, biding his time to rip out the keeper's neck and make his escape back to the plains, not the large cat that did tricks for affection, a chain and dead meat. He was the real wolf who'd been 'trained' to shepherd the flock of sheep for the outlying farmer that the sheep would never be anything but wary of.

At any rate, the medical staff was usually hesitant to approach Agent Edgerton when he was alone. If he arrived with Agent Eppes, or the other agent arrived while he was there alone, Agent Eppes would be the one everyone unanimously spoke with if needed.

Despite all of that, a couple of the very sharp eyed and compulsively detailed medical personnel had noted something… interesting… about the two agents.

Agent Edgerton had a habit of coming in and stopping at the entrance to Agent Granger's cubicle for a few moments before continuing inside, where he would stand close to the bed and just stare at their unconscious patient for several minutes. Then, he would quickly glance around, like he was checking for an armed suspect before moving to the side of the bed and lean down on the bed railing and rest his chin on his arms.

He'd actually been seen to place a hand over the man's chest once and another time, he'd been holding one of Colby's hands.

But he never said a word.

Agent Eppes wasn't as covert when he came in, usually with Agent Edgerton or arriving while the other man was still visiting, but never stayed long. The shorter of the two agents would simply go into their patient's cubicle and stand at the side of the bed. Sometimes he would place one hand on a bare shoulder and then bend down to say a few words into the blonde man's ear before straightening back up and heading back out.

The two ICU staff who had managed to catch the exchanges never spoke of them. After all, the world was difficult and frightening enough on people who liked their own gender and each had dealt with enough hate crimes that they had no wish to make two federal law enforcement officers targets of them. Especially if what had happened to their coworker was the result of one.

Despite that… or… well, perhaps _because_ of all that, the majority of the ICU staff didn't question that whoever had gone after the comatose FBI agent, was going to be caught. The question was, was he going to be caught by Agent Eppes and have a chance at getting sentenced to prison or was he going to become prey, with Agent Edgerton hunting him down and meting out his own style of justice?

……


	21. Chapter 21  AN: re: the series

Some notes regarding the "Assaulted! series sequel" entries....

First, this story has never really stayed on track but I did all I could to keep the muse interested and from abandoning this very meaty story so… For those who aren't or weren't happy with this work, I sincerely apologize. For those who've stuck with it, THANK YOU! SO MUCH for doing so as well as all of the positive feedback and comments.

Next, I've finally come up with a title for the "Assaulted! series sequel" but it will entail 'chopping' the current story up into different sections. To that end, I'll wait until this next section is finished.

Ok… that may sound ominous to some of you, especially when I've replied to some comments [on LJ] that there is still so much to cover. Well, in a way, it is. This section of the story, or 'the book,' as it were, will only be one or two more chapters. And then the third part of the series takes place.

The first section, which started as the answer to a prompt and morphed from its one-shot status into this series, will be titled, "Assaulted!" It will cover the beginning up to where the team finds out Colby's been… well… assaulted /wry chuckle.

The second story, "Assaulted! – The Investigation," will pick up directly from there and go until where the current story will end.

The third title will obviously give away the next happening in the series, and, if you want to know what it is, continue reading. If you don't, I'll skip that for now and just simply say that the part after _that_ – the fourth book, if you will – will be called, "Assaulted! – Awakening" and deals with Colby's recovery from the coma, the aftermath of the assault/car accident and the investigation. It probably won't end until Colby goes back to work.

And for those Colby Granger lovers who've been upset that Colby hasn't had a lot to do with this story, despite it being _about_ him – that don't see him as being the center of the story even though he is, if you think about it /wry chuckle – I can assure you, Colby will be getting A LOT of 'on camera' time in the above section.

Then, at that point, we'll have an entirely new story, which I've tentatively named, "Recovery From the Past," but I'm not really sure I'll keep that because… it doesn't seem to encompass what I have planned. And for those angst and hurt/comfort fans, I think you'll like it /chuckle.

So… stay tuned :)

For those who want to know what the next part is going to be called, scroll down :)

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The section after "Assaulted! – The Investigation" will be titled "Assaulted! – Revenge by Proxy," and I hope that it really satisfies some of you angst/hurt/comfort people :) But most of all, I hope you enjoy it.

*SPOILER* *SPOILER*

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	22. Chapter 22

_Part twenty-two of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks._

_Special thanks go to Polly B's husband for the help with disabling the SUV!_

……

Don looked at his watch once again. Not that he needed, as he was completely aware of the time, having been checking his timepiece, the computer and the clock on the wall for the last fifteen minutes.

Everyone should be at the house by now and it was time for him to 'go to lunch.'

Standing up, Don grabbed his sport coat from the back of his chair, waved to a couple of other agents while he pointed at his wrist and then headed for the elevator. Heading down, he looked at his watch once more and decided that he'd stop at the hospital before heading over to the Craftsman; Don wanted to at least tell the comatose blonde that they had a lead on who'd hurt him.

Making his way over to his SUV, the dark haired agent made sure that he was more alert in the underground parking garage than he usually was – checking all of his sight lines and listening for anything that didn't truly belong. Before getting into the vehicle, he made sure to glance in through the windows, checking to see if there was anyone laying in wait for him.

A couple of minutes later, while pulling into the hospital parking lot, he pressed the speed dial for Ian, letting the sniper know he was checking on Colby before heading to the house. Once inside, he quickly made his way to the ICU's waiting area.

Spotting Amita, he made his way towards the pretty dark haired woman, giving her a slight smile when she looked up to see him approaching.

"Don." Amita stood, greeting him.

"Hey. I'm on my way over to Charlie's for lunch, thought I'd see how Colby's doing. Anything new?" He asked his brother's girlfriend.

"His eyes have opened a couple of times but the doctors say that, while it's good, he's still considered comatose." At Don's puzzled frown, she explained. "They're opening spontaneously; there isn't any recognition in them. I guess it's just a reaction to whatever's going on in his brain." Amita sort of shrugged, not fully understanding all the medical information she'd been told.

"They've said that until he rates something like a ten or higher on the Glasgow scale… well… they don't want us getting too optimistic about things for awhile." Don nodded. Amita's concern was clear and Don really appreciated that she, Larry and his dad were doing their best to make sure Colby wasn't left entirely alone.

"Well… it's better than him being totally non-responsive though, right?" He couldn't help but smile encouragingly at her and she nodded. "I'm gonna see if they'll let me in to visit him for just a moment."

He left her and approached the nurse's desk just outside of the ICU ward itself to check in. After calling inside, the doors were buzzed open and Don strode through, walking to Colby's cubicle.

Taking a moment to look around the cubicle, Don didn't see anything significantly different from his last visit. Approaching the bed, he put his hands on the railing of the hospital bed taking his time looking over the unconscious man before folding his arms down and leaning on them.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Don reached down, putting a hand on the blonde's nearest shoulder, registering his warmth.

"Hey, Colby. Just wanted to let you know that we've got a huge lead on who did this to you. I'm heading over to Charlie's right now to meet with the team – we're trying to keep it out of the office because we know it's someone in law enforcement and we don't want to tip them off."

Don's gaze hadn't left the blonde's face, hoping for some type of reaction. When he didn't get one, he pursed his lips tightly. Unconsciously continuing to rub his thumb along the skin of Colby's shoulder, Don swallowed before saying, "We all want you to wake up soon, Buddy…. 'Cause we miss your grumbling about all the paperwork. And, you know, things just aren't the same with you laid up like this." Don smiled slightly, more a sad upturn of lips than anything.

Looking around and not seeing anyone actively paying attention to them, Don moved his hand to lightly caress his thumb along Colby's cheek before laying it back on the man's shoulder. Sighing, Don leaned in closer.

"Wake up soon, Colby. Please."

Not being able to get anything else out, Don squeezed Colby's shoulder slightly. Hesitating, he gave in to the urge and leaned down just a little further and placed a very light kiss on the blonde's forehead, just beneath the bandages that wrapped around his head. Sighing once more he turned around and headed back out.

* * *

King sat in the parking lot of the hospital, having followed Don from the FBI building. King knew he wouldn't be able to get to Don anywhere within the bureau's property now; the government office building was now tighter in security than at any time since 9/11. If King had been seen anywhere on the grounds without the necessity of SWAT's presence, it would have led to more time and questions than he was willing to go through to justify his being there.

Eppes' visit to the hospital was just the stroke of luck he needed in order to plant a small detonation device in the SUV's engine compartment. Having done that, all he had to do now was wait for the agent to start driving – to his brother's house he assumed – and then press the button. While the tracker on the vehicle was still active, King would need to chance being seen tailing Don because he had to be relatively close to the SUV for the remote to work.

When the engine was disabled, Eppes wouldn't have any choice but to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and then, while Don was preoccupied with that, King would grab him.

Simple.

* * *

It was only due to his hyper alertness that Don realized he was being tailed and, using the hands-free system, he speed-dialed Ian once again.

"_Edgerton."_

"Ian, I think I'm being followed, and he's really good, I wouldn't have spotted him if I'd been any less alert."

"_Damn. Where are you?"_

But before Don could respond, things got out of hand.  
...

If he'd known that Don was currently talking with Ian or that the semi-truck in front of the agent's SUV was going to have some type of mechanical difficulties that was going to cause its back wheels to lock up, King certainly wouldn't have chosen this particular time to disable Eppes' vehicle.

But he did.

When he pushed the button on the remote, the small charge of explosive took out the distributor causing the vehicle Don was driving to kill the engine. However, in King's haste to set the detonation, it was far too close to the driver's side of the firewall of the engine block and ended up disabling the SUV in ways that the SWAT leader hadn't anticipated.

So, instead of the agent's vehicle going from a car being disabled enough to allow the driver to pull over to the shoulder somewhat safely, it was one where both the steering and the braking systems were completely locked up as well.  
...

"What the hell?" Don muttered. Smoke started coming out from under the hood and the engine died just as the semi in front of him started dragging its back wheels. As the agent tried to make the steering wheel move, he put his foot down firmly on the brake pedal, which went all the way down to the floor.

There was absolutely no response from either mechanism.

With the semi trying to compensate for its own mechanical failure and Don frantically fighting with everything he had to turn the steering wheel towards the freeway's shoulder, Don couldn't afford to answer Ian's shout coming through the phone attached to the dashboard.

Don didn't stand any chance of avoiding the collision that was fast approaching.  
...

Ian had turned his phone's speaker on after he'd shouted at Don when the man had cursed, and everyone was listening to what was transpiring. All they could hear made them assume that Don was in the midst of some type of accident and their imaginations filled in the rest with every case and personal experience they'd had.

All at once, they heard Don cuss, his voice a combination of anger and resignation, then the crunching of metal, the shattering of glass, what must have been the airbags deploying, and… was that the crackling of flames they were hearing?

Everything went quietly surreal, the silence seeming to go on for far too long.

It was broken by Ian's shout, "Eppes!"

There was no response and just before he moved to rush out of the house, the quiet on the other end of the phone was interrupted with a heartfelt groan and the sounds of someone trying to move. Before anyone could say anything, there came the protesting squeal of metal, tinkling of falling glass and then a voice that was familiar to the agents in Charlie's living room.

"Jesus Christ, Don. Colby gets into an accident and starts this whole damn investigation and then I come after you and bam!... you do the same thing, except you do it before I get to have my fun."

"King."

The name was groaned by Don, making the others sigh with some relief – if he could talk, he wasn't unconscious and that was all to the good – and then tense with anxiety – King wanted Don.  
...

Don made to reach for his holstered weapon, knowing he'd be worthless with it considering he could barely think straight let alone move well, and the other man grabbed him.

King snorted, "Uh uh uh," came the sing-songed admonishment.

"Come on, Don, get outta the car."

"I'm not going… anywhere with you." Don was bruised and battered and it hurt to take large breaths but he didn't think he'd really damaged anything, except his head, which had bounced on the window sometime during the crash despite the airbags.

King snorted, "Well, you're gonna have to because the car's on fire."

_Shit,_ Don thought. _King was right; he had to get out of the SUV before the flames caused an explosion._

King sighed and then continued, "You know, I should probably just kill you right here and now; I'm sure it'd be the most sensible thing to do, even if it meant that I wouldn't have all the fun like I'd planned," The man gave him a wicked smile, "But, I suppose, there's always Colby. True, he wouldn't offer any resistance, but that would just make it easier to use him." King's eyes glinted with something unnamed. "I _did_ tell him I'd be back."

When Don didn't respond, King smirked.

"And then, of course, while I know he'd be hard to take down, once I got him drugged and bound up, Edgerton would certainly be worth it; a really great prize."

Don closed his eyes briefly, trying to pull his thoughts together. He didn't stand a chance against King, not in the shape he was in right now.

King looked to the front of the vehicle, seeing the flames coming out the grill and up through the crushed engine hood. "Get outta the car, Don."

The agent swallowed, trying to keep himself from vomiting. He had no desire to be King's play thing or, if he was the one who'd murdered those two police officers, becoming the next raped and beaten fatality. But he couldn't stay where he was either.

King clenched his jaw when Don failed to move. "Maybe I need to make this a bit more personal seeings how threatening the two guys you're most interested in isn't getting any reaction." Before Don could say anything, King grabbed a fist full of the agent's sport coat and pulled him towards the open door and Don gasped, his body protesting the quick movement. "How about I go grab your brother? He definitely isn't my type and he certainly wouldn't put up much of a fight but… with you dead, either by my hands or just letting you burn here, he's the next best thing for a little revenge. And _then_ I'll go after Colby and Ian."

Trying to regulate his breathing, – _chest must be black and blue_, he thought – Don relented. His only hope was that his team and Ian would be able to track the SWAT team leader down before things… happened.

As he made to get out of the crumpled and burning SUV, Don tried to surreptitiously grab his phone.

"You aren't gonna make this easy are you, Eppes." It wasn't a question. In fact, if Don had to name the emotion that colored the statement, he would have said it was something akin to 'glee.' When he looked to the SWAT leader as he was pulled out of the vehicle, King was wearing a feral smile. Before he could do more than stagger a couple of steps, pain exploded in his head and Don fell into darkness.

King grabbed Don with one arm as Eppes began to crumple from the blow to his head. As the SWAT leader replaced his gun in its holster, King began to pull the unconscious agent into a fireman's carry. Moving to his own vehicle, the man watched as the LEOs and emergency services began to arrive and smirked.

A moment later, the FBI SUV exploded, providing additional confusion and drama to anyone who may have been interested in the car that was now heading away from the multiple vehicle crash that snarled the freeway in both directions.

* * *

The next few days were filled with overwhelming tension. They pushed the team, as well as the rest of the LA FBI office, and the LAPD, to a point where everyone thought they'd break, where each agency thought they would tear the other apart.

When Assistant Director Michaels had been informed of Special Agent Don Eppes' abduction, and that the perpetrator was none other then the leader of the Los Angeles Police Department's SWAT, he'd looked like he was going to die of shock right there. Informing LAPD Chief Rivers had been something that Michaels hoped he would never have to experience ever again.

Needless to say, the news of Don's kidnapping and King's betrayal was more than most could wrap their minds around. Most of the personnel of both agencies did their job in a state of shock, simply going through the motions, for the first few hours. However, once they'd processed through it, the bureau and the police department worked side by side to find King and rescue Eppes.

Quantico sent the Hostage Rescue Team to Los Angeles to help in the search and apprehension of the SWAT team leader and to facilitate the rescue of Special Agent Eppes while Agent Edgerton's superiors ordered him to remain with the case. Each had a standing order to stay through the duration of the investigation unless something of higher priority came to the fore.

The media was fully involved now as well and what a feeding frenzy that was. However, getting Eppes' and King's pictures on the television was an option that needed to be utilized.

Despite all of that, it still took four days to find them.


	23. Chapter 23  corrected

_Part twenty-three of the "Assaulted!" sequel. Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.  
..._

Ian had already filled David in on Don's request and his volunteering to stay with Alan and Charlie, or with the younger Eppes if they needed to be separated, provided David could cover Alan, so when Ian made to leave the Craftsman to join in the search for King and Don, the handsome black man pulled him aside.

"What about Alan and Charlie?"

"That was only for while we were finding out who the bad guy was. Now that we know, I'm more valuable to you as someone to help search for King. You're going to need my skills out there looking for Don."

"And I know that Don's gonna want someone he trusts, personally, watching out for his family. Once I tell the AD that King is our man and that he's got Don, we'll have almost unlimited manpower in the search. What we won't have is someone Don would prefer watching after his dad and brother, someone who's completely qualified to take down King if he decides to come after them."

"You can't honestly expect me to sit on my hands and do nothing while the FBI _and_ the LAPD search all of southern California for a rogue SWAT leader and an injured ranking agent." Sinclair didn't change his stance at Ian's angry and obvious disbelief.

"Ian, I don't know what King meant when he said what he said and I _don't_ want to know – I don't want you to tell me either. Don's always put everyone else before himself and with Colby being a part of the team and in a coma, I can understand that angle but…." David shook his head, he didn't want to think what he was thinking, about the possibility of Don and Ian or Don and Colby or, shit, _all three_ of them together.

"All I know right now is that if anything happens to Alan or Charlie, especially after pointing it out to you, Don would never be able to live with himself." Before Edgerton could interject anything, David continued. "We can get LAPD and other agents to watch Colby but…." David trailed off, knowing by Ian's expression that the sniper _knew_ what he was saying.

"Damnit, David! This is what I do for a living!" While Ian might understand what David was saying, it didn't mean he was happy with it nor was he going to give up without voicing his own argument. "It doesn't matter what King said or why he used me or Colby against Don like he did, the situation is still the same: Don has been kidnapped by the man responsible for hundreds of sexual assaults on law enforcement officers and agents and he could be the guy who also murdered two of them. King is a fully trained SWAT member, the leader of said team, and he's going to be harder to track and take down than the average bad guy. You need me out there."

"That may be so, Ian, but we – Don – needs you more here." When Ian whirled around and began to angrily walk away, David followed him. Risking having the sniper deck him, or worse, he grabbed the closest shoulder. "Listen, when we get a lead on King, I'll let you know. I'll make arrangements for you to be in on taking him down. But until they're found, we, all of us including Don, need to know that, if that bastard decides to follow through on his threat, Alan and Charlie have the best available to protect them."

David could tell that Ian was hanging onto his composure by the skin of his teeth. Not having a death wish nor being prone to random acts of stupidity, Sinclair was very leery of the sniper possibly using him to alleviate the tension that he was radiating. When Edgerton spun on his heel and stomped through the house to slam through the door to the backyard, David couldn't help the relief he felt.

Ignoring his body's shaky response to the fight-or-flight adrenaline now surging through him, David grabbed his cell and started dialing. There was no telling how long Ian would keep his head together and David wanted things in place before one of the FBI's most dangerous agents decided to go hunting King himself.

* * *

Ian sensed David's apprehension, part of him relishing in it, the power to make Eppes' second-in-command to almost quake in his boots, while another realized that he was only making it more difficult for him, for everyone dealing with the situation. He turned towards the door that would take him to the backyard instead of out to the driveway and stomped his way out of the house.

Having been assigned to protection detail – _to babysitting_ – well away from the office and the action – effectively being cut off from his normal means of dealing with an overabundance of adrenaline – shooting, fighting or fucking – Ian stomped aggressively around the perimeter of the backyard.

Ian was _furious_; if he were able, he'd be breathing fire and smoke would be coming out of his ears.

He was _livid_, with being told that his place was in the Craftsman and looking over Don's father and brother instead of out there, doing his part to bring in the bastard they needed to find.

He was _enraged_, with King for creating this damn situation… for kidnapping Don, for being responsible for everything that had happened to Colby – he was willing to bet the car accident the blonde had been involved in was because Granger had been far too rattled to have been driving safely.

But most of all, he was disgusted and angry at himself, at everyone, for not being there when Don obviously needed him most.

As Ian fought to calm himself, trembling with the effort it took to control all the emotions swirling around inside him, he ended up near the koi pond. Sitting at the edge of the pool, he focused on his breathing, actively forcing himself back from going postal on anyone.

Breathe in….

Breathe out….

He concentrated on breathing, on the act of filling his lungs with oxygen and then expelling it….

While it took him several minutes to find his center and calm himself down enough so his fury was banked until it was needed at a later time, Ian was finally able to think more clearly. He had nothing against Alan or Charlie; in fact, at any other time, he would have liked to have spent the time with them, learning more about Don, and whatever they let slip about Colby as well.

It was just that… this morning… _this very morning… _he and Don had made incredible progress with regards to their relationship and…

… And now Don was in the hands of that _monster_.

A… a _man_ who had sexually assaulted his police coworkers for years! Who had then gone onto his FBI agent brothers-in-arms! And… then had possibly moved onto brutally raping, beating and then killing two of LA's finest. Using his familiarity with them to slip under their guard and….

For the first time in a very long while, Ian was afraid; but not for himself. Don was in King's control, in his clutches, and Ian was very afraid that even Don's formidable inner strength wasn't going to be enough to get him away from the other man undamaged.

Don… King might even… Don might even be broken. Broken… perhaps to the point where he couldn't be healed.

Ian threw a mental detour sign up, refusing to go any further down that path in his mind. Straightening his body, he then stood. Taking a final look at the koi pond, the sniper took one more long measured breath; he'd spent enough time wallowing. Turning, he walked back into the Craftsman.

He had work to do.

* * *

When the sniper walked back into the house, David looked to him and found Agent Edgerton looking back. David let out a breath he'd been holding, perhaps one that he'd been keeping inside since Don's phone call, and gave the man a nod.

Ian began to go through the Craftsman thoroughly, something he would never have done prior to being assigned the protection detail. It gave him the authority to make himself intimately familiar with things and places that he would never have breeched unless invited to do so. Ian understood privacy, he relished his and, normally, 'walking into people's lives' didn't bother him, but this was Don's childhood home. It was still where his father and younger brother lived and he hated invading it the way he was doing now.

He went through the place, top to bottom and side to side. Ian checked entrances/exits and mentally began keeping a list of strengths and weaknesses; good and bad hiding places. He found the one place in the house that anyone could be where any conversation or noise made within the home was funneled to; where that one spot was that, whatever was said, wouldn't travel to anywhere else in the structure. As others moved around the place, he stood and sat in various locations, getting a feel for what the house sounded like when it was active and when it wasn't.

As the sniper checked the house, Charlie took the team into the solarium and filled them in on what he, Don and Ian had found. They then helped him finish organizing everything to do with the investigation and soon it looked like the conference/war room had back at the office before all of it had been boxed up to bring to the Craftsman. Once they were finished with that, the team then started briefing the other agents and officers who were going to be working shifts with Agent Edgerton as well as those who were going to be at the hospital with Colby.

When they'd been dispersed with their assignments, David, Nikki and Liz, who'd been reassigned to them for the duration of the search and rescue, headed back to the FBI building to be debriefed by the Assistant Director, Chief of the LAPD and whoever else had been brought in for the situation.

* * *

As the three remaining agents of Don's team walked down the stairs of the front entrance to the Craftsman, they each made eye contact with the other two. As one, they walked over to David's car and, when the black man keyed the alarm off and popped the locks, Nikki got into the front passenger seat while Liz took the back.

David started the engine and then maneuvered out of the drive way. Conversation started hesitantly.

"This is so…." Liz began it.

"Tell me about it." Nikki replied and then looked to her partner. "We already know that none of us knew about Colby, but Don? And… _Ian_?"

"I told him I didn't want to think about it, that I didn't want to know or have him tell me either." David sighed.

"Didn't peg you for a homophobe, David."

"I'm not. I just… Colby… Don… Ian? I mean, _all three_ of them… and maybe, from what we heard… all three of them _together_?" David couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, turning his head to look at his partner and then the review mirror to see Liz.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying. But…." Liz trailed off.

"But what, what?" Nikki turned to look at Liz.

Liz gave her a wicked smirk and a laugh.

Nikki laughed, throwing her head back slightly.

David looked confused. "What am I missing here?"

Nikki's eyebrows rose questioningly at Liz and she shrugged an answer back.

"Well… I don't know about you, David, but thinking about those three together…." Nikki smirked and licked her lips lightly.

"Don't go there! Do not go there!" David's expression caused both women to laugh.

Liz shook her head and became serious. "I never would have guessed it of Don. I mean, we were together for a bit and I just never got that sense from him." Lost in thought she looked out the side window. "I guess it could be true; Don's never been the one to settle with any one woman… always looking for something… I thought he just hadn't found the right woman but maybe he wasn't looking for Ms. Right just Ms. Right Now…." She trailed off and Nikki nodded.

"I guess maybe I twigged onto Ian, subconsciously, but I didn't put it together until we were at Charlie's."

"One, I don't want to talk about my boss' sexuality or anything to do with his love life. Two, I don't want to contemplate said love life, _especially_ if/when compounded with Granger _and_ Edgerton. Three… while I don't want to discuss one and two, if it's true, or half true, or whatever, I can certainly understand why Ian was acting so furious back at the house now."

"David—." Nikki started but stopped at a gesture from her partner.

"I just… I may not be a homophobe but, it's going to take some time for me to come to grips with how _three_ men, who I've known for awhile, some on a daily basis for years, could hide such a fundamental thing about themselves. This isn't like Colby's being a triple agent; this is… this is 24/7/365… this is… this is _life_!"

"Well, they hid it from us too, David. And, if I'm… I don't think all of them knew anything about the other either. It wasn't just us they were hiding from, David. It looks like they were hiding it from each other… and even themselves – at least in Colby's case… maybe." Liz replied.

David sighed. "How did we not know? How did we not see all this? I mean, _what_ did we miss that King picked up on?"

Nikki and Liz looked at their friend and shook their heads, mumbling their own negative answers.

The rest of the ride to the office was done in silence.

* * *

The cat being out of the bag regarding King being the person who'd been sexually assaulting agents and police officers, the Assistant Director had the solarium emptied of all the material regarding the investigation that Don, Ian and Charlie had brought to it and taken back to the conference/war room on the seventh floor. David, working closely with LAPD's Internal Affairs department, was placed in charge of that, making sure the FBI and LAPD had all their ducks in a row with the case so, when they did apprehend King, they wouldn't lose him on a technicality or anything related to the administrative aspect of it.

While they were engaged with the paperwork, victims' statements, evidence gathering and all that, the HRT leader was in charge of the actual search for and apprehension of King. Using every resource the LA FBI office and the LAPD had available, HRT worked hand-in-hand with other bureau and police personnel to comb the city, the surround areas and then the entire southern region of California for any lead they could find.

Locating King and Special Agent Eppes took four days of long grueling hours of work that span thousands of man hours going through tip line calls, emails, closed-circuit camera video, surveillance, random patrols, eyewitness reports, plain old detective work and sheer 'dumb luck.'


	24. Chapter 24

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part twenty-four**

_Author:_ jadvisioness

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks. This thing is getting so complex, I feel like I'm floundering!

_AN: I'm not really happy with this section… I feel that it lacks _something_ but I figured I'll just post it as is. Hope that it works for all of you  
***_

**Interlude – Colby**

Colby found himself in the Idaho wilds. He couldn't really recall the last time he'd been home and it felt _so_ good, _so_ right, to be back. His first time away from home had been when he'd joined the Army and then, after a far too brief visit after his discharge, Colby had ended up in Los Angeles with the FBI; and while he liked his job there, his heart and soul would always belong here, where he'd been born and raised. There was no other place like it… the smells of the forest around him, the feel of the earth beneath him, the silence that spoke of wide open spaces and life not lived a mile a minute…

"Hello, Son."

Colby's eyes widened and he turned around slowly. "Dad?"

The man in question looked just as Colby remembered on that fateful morning, when he was sixteen; when his dad had told him to make sure he was home right after football practice because they were going to be doing some work on the barn.

Colby hadn't made it to practice though. He'd been called to the front office where the Johnson's, their closest neighbors, had been waiting to take him home – his father had died of a stroke while working in the barn.

It had been one of the worst days of his entire life.

Colby blinked at the elder version of himself that stood in front of him. The resemblance he had to his father was eerie – Colby had always found it somewhat unnerving to see how he would look when he was an adult by simply looking at the elder Granger. And now his father was dead, in his fifties, and it was even more unsettling to see himself as he would be in another twenty years or so.

Colby shook his head a couple of times. While he knew that it couldn't be his father, there was no way of getting around the… fact… that he was standing right in front of him, dressed exactly the way he'd been on that devastating day.

"Yeah, Son, it's me."

The younger man blinked his eyes, expression equal parts disbelief, repressed pain and shock.

"I know you don't understand what's going on now, that you're going to think this is all a dream or something left over from your coma, but that really doesn't matter, Colby. What _does_ matter is what I'm saying. Are you listening to me, Boy?"

"Yes, Sir." Despite his confusion, Colby automatically reverted back to his childhood, standing straight and tall – something the Army hadn't really had to drill into him because his dad and grandfather had already done so.

"Colby…. I know things have been mighty hard for you over the years. And I know there are things that you've done that you wished you hadn't; that you've got regrets that seem to be trying to eat your gut up on a daily basis…. But, Son,…" the man just a few feet from him took a deep breath and then braced himself, as if he was trying to prepare for a great feat.

"I know this is going to be really difficult for you to understand and accept, because of how you were raised and everything but… I was wrong, Son."

Colby gaped at his father. His dad never apologized; his word was law.

"Son… Colby… I am so God damned proud of you! I've never been prouder of anyone or anything than I am of you, Son." The man smiled, _really_ smiled at him, although he didn't move to follow it up with any sign of affection. In the next moment, the smile was gone and there was an expression of concern and sorrow on his face.

"But I gotta tell you… it breaks my heart to realize that you've never been free to be completely you, Son."

Colby shook his head, so shocked at what he was hearing that he wasn't processing most of what was being said to him.

This man, his father, was obviously upset regarding Colby's reactions – or non-reactions as the case may be – and was trying very hard to make the younger man believed what he was telling him. It was like the man had just one chance to get across something so very significant and important, that he was putting aside a lifetime's worth of emotional distance, gruff behavior and military bearing.

"Son, follow your heart. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Stop living the way you believe would win my approval – I'm proud of you and that will never go away or lessen with what you do."

The younger man swallowed. His father couldn't be telling him to do what he thought he was, was he?

"_Live_ your life, Son! Stop hiding; you've got a lot of people who love you, some more than others, of course," the elder Granger chuckled slightly, "and that need you – _all_ of you."

Colby's brain was stuck in neutral, unable to wrap his mind around what his father was saying.

As the man, his dad, slowly disappeared, he was still trying to get his point across to his youngest son, youngest child, "Follow your heart; live your life, Son. I love you, Colby."

Colby, who couldn't even get his voice to work, tried to reach out and touch the man who'd meant so much to him as a boy and then as a young man, but there wasn't anything there. His dad, if that's who it really was, was already gone. Again.

Not knowing what else to do, his mind whirling with memories stirred by his father's presence, Colby decided to hike around a bit.

***

Colby assumed that time was passing – even if there was no way for him to be sure; he didn't grow tired, require any food or drink and the sun continued to stay in the sky – because there were voices, many voices, and sensations trickling into his awareness and… they couldn't all be happening at the same time, could they?

There were voices he didn't recognize mixed with those he did. Some seemed like they were coming from a television or a radio, others were magnified like they were coming through some type of speaker, while still others were as if they were right next to him.

There were sensations of being touched, but not as a friend; they were… impersonal, like he was being treated like a child who was really ill. _Am I in a hospital? Why am I in one if that's where I am?_ Then there were others that were slightly more personal, like someone holding a hand in the hopes of giving comfort. _If I'm in the hospital, who would be sitting with me?_

Colby faded into darkness before he had any answers, but he came back some time later to focus on the soothing female voice that appeared to be reading to him.

_Amita? She's reading about the SCA, to me?_

Fading back into the darkness, he was rousted again some time later by more voices; people he didn't recognize, telling him how much they appreciated everything he'd done for their country.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed about their thanks to him, he gratefully drifted back into unconsciousness.

When next he was aware of things, there was another voice, but unlike the others, this one seemed to actually be in the same room with him.

_Alan? Is that Alan talking to me?_

Colby listened as long as he could as Alan wandered from subject to subject, telling him about all manner of things. But long before Alan stopped, the agent fell once more back into the warm darkness.

Time continued, with Colby spending more time in the wilds of Idaho, serenaded by voices and sensations coming from somewhere that wasn't where he was.

David, Nikki, Liz, Charlie, Amita and Alan, along with a lot of voices that he couldn't place a name or face to.

And then Colby could have sworn that he heard Don's voice. Concentrating as hard as he could, he felt warmth and a caress on one of his shoulders and then a featherlight touch on his forehead.

_Did… did Don just… kiss me?_

Before Colby could finish that thought, he heard Don's voice – he was sure it was his boss, his friend – seemingly right next to his ear…

"Wake up soon, Colby. Please."

More darkness, more voices… but then… _Ian_?

Ian was here?

The sniper didn't say much but there was warmth on his chest and a whisper of breath near his ear. However, those feelings, sensations, were gone when the man told him, as if he knew Colby could understand what he was saying, that Don had been kidnapped.

_By Tim King?_

Colby was really confused; he had no idea what was going on, where he was or why he was where he was. But he did know one thing: his boss, his friend, his teammates, needed him.

And Colby had always needed to be needed. It's who he was; duty, service, following orders, honor… it was all about responsibility, it was all about respect, it was all about need….

It was always, and had always been, about need.


	25. Chapter 25

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part twenty-five**

_Author:_ lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom/Hanna

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks. This thing is getting so complex, I feel like I'm floundering!  
_AN:_ Thanks to Munchkinofdoom and Hanna for the beta :)  
******************

Alan was in the midst of setting another tray of sandwiches down when Ian's phone rang. The others gathered around the dining room table didn't pause in their conversations until he cussed and asked the caller where they were.

Everyone froze though when he yelled Don's name, and when he activated the speaker for his phone, they all understood the agent's concern.

As Alan realized what was happening, it felt like his heart stopped. His eldest son was in a car accident _in progress_…. He heard Don cuss vehemently, something Alan had rarely heard from him, and then there was the sound of crunching metal, shattering glass and… probably the airbags… and then all was silent except for what could be the crackling of fire….

He barely registered Edgerton's shouted 'Eppes,' the others around the table starting to move, before everything came to a stand-still when a groan came over the speaker.

The relief Alan felt over that shook him to his very core. Barely able to continue standing, his joy at knowing his son was alive at least, Alan leaned on the table. The respite was very short-lived, however, as another man's voice joined the one-sided conversation.

"_Jesus Christ, Don. Colby gets into an accident and starts this whole damn investigation and then I come after you and bam!... you do the same thing, except you do it before I get to have my fun."_

"_King."_ Don's voice was music to Alan's ears but the tension around the dining room table had gone up several notches and the expressions on those gathered around him weren't good. Nikki had already grabbed her phone, calling dispatch for emergency services to locate the crash and render assistance; David was doing the same, getting the FBI and LAPD to put an APB on the man his son had named.

However, none of that registered any further than peripherally for Alan, as he was concentrating on what was happening with his son.

And what the man, King, said, everything he said, chilled Alan to the bone.

"_Come on, Don, get outta the car."_

"_I'm not going… anywhere with you."_ Don sounded almost breathless. Maybe he'd cracked a rib or… Alan tried not to think of anything.

"_Well, you're gonna have to because the car's on fire." _Alan wasn't the only one who took a noisy breath.

Don stayed silent but Alan couldn't stand any longer and commandeered the closest chair. He waved off the hands that tried to aid him, completely focused on the conversation they were all prisoners of.

"_You know, I should probably just kill you right here and now; I'm sure it'd be the most sensible thing to do, even if it meant that I wouldn't have all the fun like I'd planned."_

"_But, I suppose, there's always Colby. True, he wouldn't offer any resistance, but that would just make it easier to use him."_

"_I _did_ tell him I'd be back."_

A pause; Don, again, not saying a word.

"_And then, of course, while I know he'd be hard to take down, once I got him drugged and bound up, Edgerton would certainly be worth it; a really great prize."_

Alan, as well as everyone else at the table, tensed but very carefully refused to look at the man mentioned, although the eldest Eppes was aware of the surprise that the other agents unwillingly broadcasted with their body language.

Silence, except for what they knew now to be flames somewhere within the car Don was in, followed the statement.

"_Get outta the car, Don."_

It appeared that his son wasn't going to acknowledge the man, as they heard King continue, his voice dropping dangerously.

"_Maybe I need to make this a bit more personal, seeing's how threatening the two guys you're most interested in isn't getting any reaction."_

Alan and Charlie were the only ones to look at Agent Edgerton, finding the man's facial expression a blank frozen mask, but focusing back on the cell phone when there was the sound of movement and Don gasped in pain.

"_How about I go grab your brother? He definitely isn't my type and he certainly wouldn't put up much of a fight but… with you dead, either by my hands or just letting you burn here, he's the next best thing for a little revenge. And _then_ I'll go after Colby and Ian."_

Alan, as well as a couple of the others gathered, looked to Charlie, who had turned pale before then flushing with anger at being dismissed so easily.

After a short pause, there was the sound of movement.

"_You aren't gonna make this easy are you, Eppes."_ It wasn't a question. Whatever Don had done had obviously not set well with King as they could all hear the… satisfaction?... that colored the comment.

More sounds of movement and then a pained gasp from Don.

Then there was more crackling before complete static for just a second and then the line went dead.

* * *

There was stunned silence for only a moment before the room was filled with people moving and talking. Alan didn't even try and figure out what was being said or who was going where or doing what; all he could think of was that his eldest son had just been in a car accident and then kidnapped by the same person who'd not only sexually assaulted one of Don's own agents, but hundreds of police officers and over a dozen other FBI personnel.

A tense silence finally registered with Alan and he looked up to find David and Ian glaring at each other.

Alan had heard about Agent Edgerton but he'd been willing to give the man the benefit of the doubt. In all that time, while he'd certainly discerned the restrained power and… threat… that lay within one of the Bureau's most valued agents, he hadn't actually seen anything, really.

But now, Alan, still at the table, was witnessing at least a portion of that power, first hand.

He'd come to know Don's team relatively well in the years that had followed his son returning to Los Angeles, and he had never seen David so rattled, not even with regards to Colby's triple agent business. However, the man who had, apparently, been assigned by Don just that morning to watch after him and Charlie, was radiating danger, aggression and somehow banked the seething rage that Alan could all but see, had David trembling by the time Ian turned and stomped out to the backyard.

Alan swallowed. He was forced to admit that he, himself, was slightly shaky from _just watching_ the encounter. This troubled him deeply.

Still sitting, unwilling to try and walk anywhere else, Alan's mind whirled as he tried to come to grips with all that had happened within the last several minutes. While he didn't have the mind to get involved in whatever Charlie and the rest of Don's team was doing while David stood in the living area, tense, talking on his cell phone, Alan's mind apparently had no trouble going back over bits of things that he'd recently heard.

"_But, I suppose, there's always Colby. True, he wouldn't offer any resistance, but that would just make it easier to use him."_

"_I _did_ tell him I'd be back."_

While Alan didn't know much about the investigation, he'd seen Colby in the hospital, he'd heard his son talk about some aspects of the case and that Colby had been drugged… and that he wasn't the only victim. How could someone, particularly in law enforcement, perpetuate such crimes – especially against their own?

"_And then, of course, while I know he'd be hard to take down, once I got him drugged and bound up, Edgerton would certainly be worth it; a really great prize."_

Alan couldn't even fathom the image that his brain conjured. After seeing Edgerton with David, the elder Eppes couldn't imagine the man being taken down by anything short of death or serious injury. But given this man King's threat of going after a comatose Colby….

"_Maybe I need to make this a bit more personal, seeing's how threatening the two guys you're most interested in isn't getting any reaction."_

And then there was the matter of Don's obvious attraction to Colby… _and_ Agent Ian Edgerton.

He knew that Ian had stayed at the house this morning instead of going back to LA. However, Alan had thought that, with Charlie and him downstairs, Edgerton had napped in Charlie's room. Looking back on the rush of the morning, Alan supposed that some of the redness around his son's and Ian's faces could have been due to… his mind shied away from the imagery his thoughts came up with.

And then his heart stuttered.

"_How about I go grab your brother? He definitely isn't my type and he certainly wouldn't put up much of a fight but… with you dead, either by my hands or just letting you burn here, he's the next best thing for a little revenge. And _then_ I'll go after Colby and Ian."_

To have that monster holding his eldest son captive and then to contemplate Charlie in the man's hands as well was enough to give him a bout of nausea that he had to fight not to give in to. While he knew Don was incredibly strong willed and stubborn, his youngest son was much more… fragile, not only in his mind but his body as well. Charlie was an academic, for crying out loud. He wasn't suited for such….

Alan didn't allow his mind to go further down that path and concentrated on the confrontation he'd witnessed between David and Ian.

"… _I know that Don's gonna want someone he trusts, personally, watching out for his family…. Someone Don would prefer watching after his dad and brother, someone who's completely qualified to take down King if he decides to come after them."_

"… _I don't know what King meant when he said what he said and I_ don't _want to know…. Don's always put everyone else before himself and with Colby being a part of the team and in a coma, I can understand that angle but…."_ Alan recalled David shaking his head, clearly unable or unwilling to process the images that his own mind must have conjured up, as if he too was thinking along the lines Alan was trying not to.

"_All I know right now is that if anything happens to Alan or Charlie, especially after pointing it out to you, Don would never be able to live with himself."_

Alan knew that that was true. Don would never be able to live with himself if the monster that had kidnapped Don somehow got to Charlie or him.

David had trailed off, whether because the comment didn't need to be finished or because of Ian's expression.

"_Damnit, David! This is what I do for a living!"_

Alan had shivered as the man continued – his voice going deadly calm and becoming colder.

"_It doesn't matter what King said or why he used me or Colby against Don like he did, the situation is still the same: Don has been kidnapped by the man responsible for hundreds of sexual assaults on law enforcement officers and agents and he could be the guy who also murdered two of them. King is a fully trained SWAT member, the leader of said team, and he's going to be harder to track and take down than the average bad guy. You need me out there."_

The elder Eppes' breath had stopped in his lungs. They suspected King of also being the… the man… who'd killed those two police officers?

David and Ian had moved a little ways away but Alan had still been able to hear what had been said.

"… _But until they're found, we, all of us including Don, need to know that, if that bastard decides to follow through on his threat, Alan and Charlie have the best available to protect them."_

Out of the corner of his eye, Alan caught sight of the tall, dark haired sniper as he re-entered the Craftsman. Agent Edgerton seemed exceedingly calm as he looked to David, who nodded and then took a deep breath. Apparently the agent had pulled himself together, better than Alan at the moment anyhow, and that seemed to have made David relax as well.

Alan snorted inwardly, unable to blame his eldest son's second-in-command's reaction. If Edgerton was still as wound up as he'd been before he returned, Alan didn't think he would have been able to hold it together as well as he was doing right now.

Then he watched as the forbidding man, because that's exactly how Alan saw him now, began going through the house, their _home_, like… Alan shook his head, unable to come up with the right word or phrase to finish that thought. Edgerton stalked over every inch of the house, garage and the grounds; finding every nook and cranny that existed.

Heck, if Alan didn't know that they didn't have any mice, he would have suspected the agent of naming all of the rodents. And then shooting all of them so they didn't provide a problem later on.

Alan tried to see what his son noticed about the man who was, right this moment, distressing him alarmingly. He was beginning to wish that he'd never welcomed the man into his home and that his son, his sons, had no connection to him at all.

Apparently, Don trusted this frightening individual more than most. He also appeared to be somewhat… attracted to the man.

Alan ran a hand over his face, shaking his head.

Taking a breath, he made to shift to his feet, making sure his legs would hold him steadily before moving towards the kitchen.

He needed a drink.


	26. Chapter 26

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part twenty-six**

_Author:_ jadvisioness

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom and laura_trekkie

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks. This thing is getting so complex, I feel like I'm floundering!

_AN: This chapter was damn difficult to write and went through at least FOUR versions to the betas alone.  
******_

The youngest Eppes had moved to the kitchen shortly after Don's phone had disconnected. Fighting the urge to get lost in his numbers, he concentrated on making another pot of coffee, pacing as the machine did its thing.

Charlie's mind was always awhirl with activity, though the vast majority of that was usually taken up with his maths, in one way or another. However, after listening to his brother being kidnapped by the SWAT team leader, Charlie couldn't get his mind to stop the flow of images (and statistics) regarding all of the sexual assault cases he'd helped his brother's team with. Or of the thoughts he'd had concerning the two raped, beaten and murdered police officers.

Despite Charlie's striving to focus on the task at hand, images of his father, as Alan realized that Don was in the midst of a car accident and then being kidnapped while they were listening, flitted through Charlie's mind, making him recall how his parents had looked when they had broken the news to him about Margaret's cancer.

He remembered how she had gotten progressively worse and how he'd all but locked himself in his head after they told him. How, as the illness ravaged his mother, his father had aged right before his eyes, becoming bowed with grief and other emotions while taking care of her.

Charlie had never been good at 'the human condition'; when something stirred up his emotions, Charlie's concentration, his focus on anything other than losing himself in his maths, went right out the window. Given that, he had been completely incapable of dealing with the emotional toll that his mother's cancer was taking on him and had finally fled to the garage, unable to handle any more of… of _everything_…. Charlie had then locked himself up with his numbers, leaving Alan and Don, who'd moved back to LA, to take care of her.

After her death, it had taken them all a long while to come to grips with their loss and to try to become a family again.

The young professor had finally proven to himself that staying in the garage, spending time and energy focusing on some esoteric maths problem, wasn't going to help _anyone_, whereas committing himself to helping Don and his team could and did. But now, with his father looking as beleaguered as he had during his mother's battle with cancer and Charlie knowing that he couldn't afford to be overwhelmed this time, he was feeling like he was drowning.

There was too much at stake to let the numbers take over! Don wasn't there to help – Don was the one in trouble and Charlie had no doubts that his brother was counting on him, counting on him and his team, to find him. To find King.

In the midst of the struggle to keep focused on the situation, Charlie was peripherally aware of Nikki and Liz coming into the kitchen and pouring themselves cups of coffee. However, when they came to a standstill at the doorway from the kitchen back towards the dining room, he frowned. Looking to them, he was just about to ask what was up when they made shushing motions at him. Wrinkling his brow, Charlie came to stand beside the two and followed their gaze to find David and Ian standing toe-to-toe in the living room.

His father, watching from his seat at the table, looked… very shaken and, concerned, Charlie focused in on what the two agents were discussing.

"….You can't honestly expect me to sit on my hands and do nothing while the FBI _and_ the LAPD search all of southern California for a rogue SWAT leader and an injured ranking agent…." David didn't move in the face of Ian's obvious disbelief or expression of anger.

While Charlie had worked with Agent Edgerton and had seen the man in action, admittedly not as intense as he was right this moment, his father hadn't. Alan was now seeing the agent as the FBI, as a whole, knew him and not the man that he'd invited into his home, shared meals and conversation with.

And, Charlie blinked, realizing that his father was alarmed by it. Perhaps even frightened.

"…. It doesn't matter what King said or why he used me or Colby against Don like he did, the situation is still the same: Don has been kidnapped by the…."

As Charlie made to move past the two female agents, they held him back, tensing as they heard Ian mention his speculation about King being the cop killer.

Charlie had found it probabilistically unlikely of having someone else perpetrating the two killings at the same time the assaulter seemed to have stopped his. Given that he had already been working on the case, the professor had run through the numbers and had come to the conclusion that their assaulter and the killer were one and the same person. He'd been going to discuss it with everyone during their meeting, but it seemed he'd merely be confirming suspicions, for Ian at least.

The two agents finally let him go as Ian stomped across the living room and out the back door. David took a deep breath and then made to grab his cell phone; Charlie barely registered the man's shaking hands before his mind went off in another direction.

Earlier this morning, after Charlie had fixed a cup of coffee for himself, he'd gone upstairs for a shower. Not thinking, he'd simply stumbled into his room and came to a standstill as he remembered seeing Ian's truck outside. More surprised at not finding the sniper sleeping in his bed than finding him there, Charlie had frowned and looked out one of his windows.

Yes, there was Edgerton's truck.

_So, where was_….

Given that the solarium was filled with all the case related files and such, the couch wouldn't have been quiet enough with both him and his father awake and, now that they had no guest room per se, there was only one other place Ian could be.

Charlie's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline as he added up all the facts and, belatedly, came to the obvious conclusion.

While the youngest Eppes knew that he was oblivious to a lot of things, he tried hard to at least be cognitive of things as they related to his father and to his brother, as well as Don's job. Despite the rocky start after their mother's passing, Charlie and Don had grown closer; their relationship, even with all the bumps in the road along the way, was now on more of an even keel than it had been since Charlie was a toddler.

With that said, despite the fact that they had a tendency to talk more about their lives to each other, it was obvious that Don had forgotten to mention that he was gay or, given his reputation, bi-sexual.

"…_seeing's how threatening the two guys you're most interested in_…" Suddenly that part of the conversation made a lot more sense to Charlie and he blinked. His brother, the man he had idolized all of his life, was interested in men. In two men. Two federal law enforcement agent coworkers. In Colby _and_ Ian.

Charlie's mind immediately started bringing up equations dealing with this new information – given all the women his brother had been involved with, how could Ian or Colby fit the parameters Don used with regards to sexual compatibility – and he struggled not to get lost in the interesting problem. Concentrating, he looked to his father, who appeared fine but preoccupied.

While he knew that he should try and offer some type of comfort, Charlie was fully aware of his shortcomings. He'd be better off just focusing on ways of tracking King down and getting help to Don.

Before he could process anything else, Agent Edgerton returned to the living room. After nodding to David, who was still on his cell, the man began to go through the house in a similar fashion, but much more thoroughly, to any of the other agents Charlie had known to do when on protection detail. However, prior to the sniper's finishing, a hand on Charlie's shoulder brought him out of his thoughts momentarily.

"Charlie," David was looking at him with concerned understanding. "Charlie, we need to know about what you found; why did you bring everything from the office to the house?"

The youngest Eppes nodded shortly and followed the agent back to the solarium. Ian was still stalking the house which left him to fill the team in on everything.

Taking a breath, Charlie started off with, "Ian's suspicion is correct. Our serial assaulter and the murderer of the police officers is the same person… King. I was going to tell all of you as soon as Don got here…."

Before he could get sidetracked, Charlie shook his head and continued. "After all of you left, Don, Ian and I continued putting the case together. While Ian and Don went through the files of suspects, I continued with putting together a timeline for the assaults."

At this, Charlie went over to his laptop and pulled up a file to project onto the jerry rigged screen of a sheet against a wall.

At the top of the table were the headings of _Months_, _Victims_, _Valley_, _Central_, _West_, _South_, and _FBI_. Below was the information pertinent to each column – which went back 18 months. The first three were written in black. Central was gold, West green, South blue and FBI was in red. The information was from most recent to earliest and, for the seventeenth [August] and the beginning of the eighteenth [September] months, the victims' names were Colby Granger, Martin Delany, Mitchell Raymond, Kris Demsey, Walker Evans and Howard Jones.

Each name was written in a different color that corresponded with the location headings – thus 'Colby Granger' and 'Martin Delany' were both done in red for the FBI.

Alongside the table graph were the calendar months. The dates were colored the corresponding color of the location/victim. In each of the months, roughly averaging once a week – each week, every week – they all had one date colored. Combining the table graph and the calendar gave everyone the needed information.

August 2009: red – Martin Delany - 6, blue – Mitchell Raymond - 12, green – Kris Demsey - 21, gold – Walker Evans - 26 and black – Howard Jones – 30. September 2009: red – Colby Granger – 3.

Each of the agents could now see what Charlie had found, as clear as day.

"As you can see, King had a definite pattern he worked. Going previous to his attacks on FBI personnel, you see that, when he decided to add us to his… hunting grounds… he simply added us in, subtracting one of the LA locations." Charlie pulled up a table graph that started in March 2008 and worked backwards.

Indeed, King had obviously gone from repeating the original four locations to simply adding the FBI to his rotation of victims – _Valley_, _Central_, _West_, _South_, and _FBI_.

"When we went on alert after Colby's… we… effectively interrupted his routine. Despite that, on Monday night, just four days after Colby's car accident, when we should have gotten an assault victim from Valley, we get a report of a murdered police officer relatively close to the UCLA Med Center…."

"Colby's hospital." David said into the moment that followed.

Charlie took a breath. "Then, Friday morning… this morning, we get our second dead police officer, which was almost a week earlier than it should have been." With that, Charlie went over and pushed a pin into the map on the wall that represented the location of the crime scene.

It was only a half mile from the Craftsman.

"He's been watching you. You or Don or…." Liz trailed off.

"He's been watching the investigation. I can only imagine what set him off near the hospital but I'm willing to guess that he saw us load Don's SUV with everything regarding the investigation, followed us here, then watched us unload and… figured we were on to him." Charlie raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose before continuing.

"While he could get information from the people at the office simply by listening, he knew that he wouldn't be getting anything more now…. It must have made him…." It was Charlie's turn to trail off.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened to Officer Sanchez, Charlie. King's the bad guy here." David's intense gaze focused on the young professor.

"The point is, he's escalated. He's got Don now and he's had a taste of blood and the power that comes with what he did to Murphy and Sanchez." Edgerton's voice broke the quiet moment, causing the three agents to startle slightly.

"Ian." Liz admonished, turning back to glance at Charlie.

The young professor had been facing the door, thus seeing Ian quietly walk into the room, and had already thought of what the agent had referred to. He looked to the female agent and, after a few seconds, "Liz, if you think I hadn't already known that fact… do you really see me as being so disconnected from reality? Especially after working with my brother for these last few years?"

Liz winced slightly. "No… it's just… I'm sorry, Charlie. I just didn't think… I was thinking of you as the family of a kidnapping victim."

Before anything more could be said, the doorbell rang and then more agents and a variety of personnel from the police department were escorted into the solarium.

Taking the moment of distraction, Charlie moved out of the room and went to the kitchen. A moment later, he started pacing around the house, carrying a notebook and pen, vaguely aware of all the voices coming from the other room.

Charlie came across his father, sitting in his recliner in the living room, a squat cut crystal glass in his hand and knew Alan had had at least one drink, probably whiskey.

While his father indulged, it was usually wine with dinner or some beer during a game on television or a barbecue with family and friends. Rare, and usually rocky, were the times he'd actually resorted to hard liquor, and now would definitely be considered one of those times.

His father couldn't anchor him now… even if Charlie were able to seek that type of comfort, which he'd never been able to.

Larry and Amita had decided to stay with Colby until his guards had arrived at the hospital, unwilling to leave him unprotected – not that there was much they would be able to do against the SWAT team leader – so it was up to Charlie to hold himself together.

But Charlie sincerely wished they were with him, right now. At least they understood how his numbers could help find his brother.

"Charlie."

Charlie turned to find Ian a couple of feet away from him, eyes serious and concerned and, apparently, stymied for words.

"Are you in love with my brother?"

Ian wasn't the only one who blinked with surprise as Charlie had no idea that he'd intended on asking the question. Heck, he didn't even know he'd been _thinking_ it.

Before either of them could react to the question however, thankfully, David's voice, calling from the other room, caught their attention.

A moment later, the handsome black agent came into view. "We've got the CCTV coverage of the accident and Don getting taken."

* * *

_Next chapter is what you've all been waiting for… What's happening with Don and King?_


	27. Chapter 27

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part twenty-seven**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom and Laura_Trekkie

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks. This thing is getting so complex, I feel like I'm floundering in some places!

_AN: _**_WARNING:_** To me, this next section isn't really dark, but it may quite possibly be for you. While it's not _too_ graphic, it is non-con/rape of a male by a single male along with discussion of a previous attack suffered by another character.

I am an avid fan of hurt/comfort HOWEVER, there's gotta be a lot of comfort after the hurting AND I do not, in any way, shape or form, condone/support/whatever domestic violence, rape/non-con or any other form of trauma or harm upon another human/animal/being.

As with other traumas, there is a lot of damage done, mentally – emotionally – physically – spiritually – that needs to be healed/worked through/repaired. At this point in time, I don't know if the muse is planning on doing most of that within the story or off-camera so… bear with me.

I've also included some information regarding sexual assault at the bottom of this chapter for those interested.

With that said, please read at your own discretion.

And yes, if this sounds familiar, this warning is taken almost word for word from "Essence of Colby," day fourteen. The three italicized paragraphs that are included are also taken from there along with the relevant notes at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Don came to awareness with the knowledge that things weren't good. He was sore from the car accident, yes, but the position he found himself in now – hanging upright, spread-eagled a couple of inches off the floor with taut, heavy chains fastened to manacles on his wrists and ankles – definitely wasn't helping.

He was also as naked as the moment he was born.

His front torso, the little he could see of it, must be one huge, spectacular bruise from where he'd slammed into the airbag of the SUV; there were some scratches on his hands, probably from broken glass, and his head ached. The area on his wrists where the manacles rubbed was inflamed but the skin hadn't yet broken.

Looking around, Don concluded that he was in some type of warehouse. High ceilings, open floorplan, small windows high in the walls, concrete floor. Taking in the furnishings and other stuff that was close to him, Don swallowed apprehensively. While he hadn't personally been involved in a lot of the investigations, Don had been part of several inter-agency joint taskforce raids dealing with prostitution and pornography, and he didn't like what he was seeing.

Squinting, his eyes focused more sharply; it looked like the walls and ceiling had been covered with something. After a moment's more inspection, Don figured it out. Soundproofing material; he was in someone's personal dungeon.

_Shit._

Remembering the accident, he amended that thought.

He was in _King's_ personal dungeon.

_Fuck._

Twisting his head around as far as he could, Don could see something on the floor. From his peripheral vision on both sides, it appeared to be a matt on some type of raised platform. On one side of it, against the wall, looked like a yard hose station – lots of green tubing wound up nicely around its holder, connected to a water spout. Spying something on the floor but not being able to make it out, Don looked down around in front of him and saw some type of grates or drains spaced evenly. Looking down and then back up, following the chains from his arms and legs to their point of origin, he found a sophisticated winch system.

If he understood the apparatus correctly, someone could suspend him in a variety of positions as well as restrain him down on the matt if they chose.

Looking forward, he focused on some of the equipment in front of him, noticed the well worn scratches in the concrete.

_Or over that sawhorse thing._ He noticed another object. _Or that… whatever it is._

_This is _so_ not good._

As time passed and nothing happened, Don was of two minds. On the one side, the more time that went by without him seeing King meant that his team and Charlie had more chance of finding him before King could… do anything to him. On the other, it was making Don really uneasy, not knowing what was going on. It gave his mind plenty of time to think about the situation he was in and everything he knew about King's victims and, given his instincts, probable victims – the two murdered police officers.

The light in the room was beginning to dim. His body was complaining about the position it was being forced to maintain, the sheen of sweat on him a testament to the strain it was under, as well as his need to use a toilet, and breathing was becoming difficult. The skin on his wrists had finally broken due to the pressure exerted by his bodyweight pulling on the restraints. He was sure his ankles had as well but, since his arms and legs had gone numb some time ago, he wasn't sure.

The sound of a door opening behind him intruded on his numb consciousness.

There was only silence but Don sensed the presence behind him and then… fingers brushed along his body like a lover; beginning in the middle of his back before trailing down his flank, over his left buttock and stopping at the middle of the back of his thigh before continuing.

Don had tensed all over at the first touch, flinching as the hand approached and then went over his butt. When the hand started going sideways, towards his inner thigh, Don tried to jerk away from it, knowing that he wouldn't be able to move more than a couple of inches.

A deep male chuckle was all that was heard.

As Don continued to squirm, pulling at his bonds, the SWAT team leader laughed. "Still have some life in you after hanging around for awhile, huh? That's good. _Really_ good."

His mind had gone numb along with the majority of his body and Don struggled to get it out of neutral while he instinctively tried to move away from the unwanted touches.

"You aren't going anywhere, Eppes. Those chains have held far more…" King's hand reached between Don's legs, squeezing and stroking his intimate places, "…impressive… meat than you, believe me." Don looked to the ceiling, fighting to calm himself down; it wouldn't do any good to panic, he needed a clear head to get out of this.

The hand moved away and King walked around Don, looking him over like some horse enthusiast buying a new mount. Don was fondled and groped for a few minutes before King came to stand in front of him, giving him a final head-to-toe-and-back-up-again leer as he licked Don's sweat from his fingers.

With Don suspended the way he was, the two men were at the same height. King came forward the two feet that had separated them with a smirk on his face, looking Don straight in the face before he leaned down slowly and began to lick Don's chest.

Don shuddered at the unwanted touch and he felt King smile against his skin before putting his mouth over his right nipple, grazing it with his teeth before sucking at the hardened bud. Don flinched and the SWAT leader bit down hard enough to break skin, causing the agent to jerk and yelp slightly at the unexpected pain. Pulling back, a wicked smile curving his lips, King watched Don intently before moving to paw through the variety of equipment that Don had vaguely registered earlier.

"I was watching him. Colby. I watched him watch you and thought he was crazy for making googoo eyes at both you and Ian." King was picking up and discarding various items, appearing to inspect them but Don was sure that King was surreptitiously watching him intently, not paying any actual attention to what was really in his hands. When he continued, however, he looked directly into Eppes eyes. "When I was getting ready to shove my cock up his ass, I told him that I would take you in a New York minute if I could."

King walked up to his restrained prisoner and raised a hand, caressing the agent from shoulder down to mid thigh. "And now… here you are… all mine." His hand detoured then to fondle Don's genitals. "And unlike with Colby, I get you for however long I want you."

Don clenched his jaw, trying not to react, trying to keep his head about him, but his mind kept bringing up the victim statements, images of the murdered police officers his instincts told him were King's, and of Colby in the hospital bed.

King continued to fondle him, bringing his face back to Don's chest, mouth to the opposite nipple this time. "I can take my time with you."

Don swallowed, trying to maintain a normal breathing pattern. But he was hurting and it was getting harder to breathe, the way his body was positioned putting extra strain on his heart and lungs. "You can't want…" His voice was harsh and he tried to work up some saliva to coat his mouth and throat before he tried again. "You can't want… this whole thing… to end like this…, King. You can't… have meant for… all this to happen… for your life… to go down this road… and end like this." When King didn't say anything, Don continued, trying to keep his voice calm and cool despite his gasping for breath.

"You're SWAT, man. … All those years spent to get there…." He knew it was futile but anything he could do to keep King from… from hurting him was the only thing Don could do right now. "Come on, Tim…, don't do this. You know…, they're gonna… hunt you down…, there's no way… out of this. You… know what's… gonna happen, so… why not just… end this right… now. Call David—."

King bit him again, this time drawing blood and making Don cry out in pain. Then he stepped back and punched Don in the stomach before moving away and around the chained agent. As Don fought to catch his breath and push the pain to the back of his mind, the other man reached up from behind him and grabbed a handful of his hair, wrenching Don's head back and to the side, forcing Don to look at him from the awkward position.

"How do you know what I meant to happen? How do you know what I wanted my life to be like? You don't know anything about me, Eppes. You don't wanna know anything other than what you can do to talk me into what you want me to do – which is to turn myself in and let Edgerton come and rescue you from what's gonna happen to you."

The moment King had shown up at the accident, Don knew he was in trouble; that if his team didn't find him soon, this man was going to mess him up really good. He'd worked with King and he'd read the man's file after putting him down as a suspect and knew what the man was capable of. Even if he hadn't, he recalled many details of the sexual assaults documented by his victims, his fellow officers and the agents that had come forward and, if his instincts were correct, the condition of the two bodies of the dead police officers.

King smiled sadistically, pulling hard on the handful of Don's hair that he still had twisted in his fist, making Don gasp harder for breath. "What you don't understand here, Eppes, is that _I'm_ in control. _I'm_ in control of what's going to happen to you. Of how hard I'm gonna shove my cock up your ass." To illustrate that point, King looked down and, with no warning, brutally shoved one of his fingers into Don's anus. Spread-eagled as he was, it was still very painful and Don screamed. "How much pain or pleasure you're going to get. How much blood you might lose, how much cum you're going to swallow, how many bruises you're gonna have… how many broken bones you're gonna get…. How long you're gonna live… how you're gonna die."

Don attempted to focus on what King was saying, not that he wanted to hear it but it would give his mind something to concentrate on, to distract it from the pain he was in. However, before Don could do that, King shoved another finger into him and he had just enough time to bite down on his bottom lip, hard enough to draw blood, to stop the scream that was trying to get out.

"Colby, man… he had the sweetest ass that I've had in a long time. He was so tight, just like a virgin should be." When King shoved a third finger into him, Don felt his skin tear and he screamed, unable to keep it inside this time. "Just like you seem to be." King looked back to Don, "I would have guessed from the way you and Ian been dancing around each other that you'd already been tapped at some point, Eppes."

His eyesight was blurry and Don realized he had tears running into the hair at his temple on his right side and pooling near his nose on the left, given that King was still holding his head back.

"Another virgin ass. A truly unexpected pleasure; one that I'm gonna enjoy to the fullest." Don tried to shake his head but the SWAT team leader viciously pulled his fingers out of Don's butt, changed hands and then punched Don in the stomach again. The agent cried out, unable to stifle his involuntary reaction to the attack.

"You can't lie to me, Eppes."

King let go of his head and Don squeezed his eyes closed while trying to pull himself together. Swallowing nausea, forcing his mind to not focus on the pain, he tried to straighten his neck and lift his head, screaming in agony as King buried something deep inside of him.

Before Don could get his breath back, King was talking again.

"I should have taken Colby somewhere outside the FBI building. I was looking forward to his sweet, tight ass. Instead, I took him like I've done all the others." King pulled the very large unlubricated dildo almost all the way out of Don's body and then slammed it back in. Don screamed, feeling as if he was being split in two, feeling more skin tear and the sensation of something sliding down from his butt to near the top of his thighs, blood probably, before the feeling was gone, having gotten to Don's numb legs.

"I saw you and Ian at Colby's bedside once. I'm guessing you both want him."

Don was vaguely aware of the peripheral pain in his limbs as his body instinctively fought against the intimate intrusion. As the skin of his wrists and ankles tore even more with his jerking movements and King's treatment of him, more blood began to run over the manacles and down his numb arms and feet.

Moving in closer, King placed his mouth next to Don's closest ear while beginning to fondle Don's genitals. "You know, he doesn't want you, really. You're just his second choice." King mouthed Don's neck and then moved back to his ear. "In hindsight, I can tell that Ian was interested in Colby… that he'd been watching Granger for awhile." Letting Don's shaft go, he put his hand flat against Don's face, turning the agent to face him. "Edgerton never looked at you like that, Eppes. Never." King let go of his head and Don turned away from him while King grabbed his cock again. "But now that Granger's in a coma…. I'm guessin' Ian wasn't that interested in him after all. Decided to work on you."

Don struggled against letting King's comments ground themselves. He had to do what he had to do to stay alive. It didn't matter what the man muttered, none of it was true, none of it mattered.

"Wonder how long he'll think about you before he turns his eyes elsewhere." King pulled the dildo out all the way and then slammed it back into the agent's body and Don yelled again with the force of the intrusion. King's other hand continued to grasp his genitals, caressing them, stroking them.

"But you know what, Eppes? I'm gonna relish having you under me. I'm really looking forward to you fighting me; to you taking everything I'm gonna give you, making you take everything I'm gonna do to you."

Don groaned, biting his lower lip and tried to fight his body's reactions, forcing himself to try and go limp. The less resistance his body gave, the less damage it would take.

"You know, Eppes, Colby fought a lot harder than this and he was drugged out of his mind. Maybe you like this. Is that what's goin' on here, Eppes? You like what I'm doin' to ya? Huh?"

Despite everything, no matter how much he didn't want what was happening, there was only so much stimulation a body could take before it reacted. Don's defenses were in shambles due to his being strung up like a dead animal waiting for the butcher. He was in pain, his bladder was full, he was exhausted – sweating and shaking with reaction from the strain his body was under – and, by trying to make himself go limp to prevent more damage, what little control he might have had over his body's instinctive reactions to said stimulation was completely gone.

Yes, Don knew that it didn't matter how much of a fight he put up or how hard he tried to keep his body from reacting because all it would take was time and his body would react – it was natural. He tried to force his tired mind to remember what he'd learned at Quantico all those years ago, as well as refresher courses since, about male rape. He needed to bring it to the forefront of his mind to help combat the guilt and shame that he would undoubtedly feel – it was human nature for a man to feel so, considering how society taught them to be.

_"Male victims/survivors are often ashamed and confused when their body responds during an assault. Frequently, men who are sexually assaulted or raped have an involuntary or forced erection and/or ejaculation. Also, muscles in the anus often relax when a man is raped. This does not mean that the survivor wanted to be raped or sexually assaulted. Involuntary erections and ejaculations are normal reactions to physical stimulation even when sex is non-consensual"….._

"…_. When a male is raped (by a male or female) the involuntary physiological response of erection or ejaculation cannot be taken to imply that the act was welcomed by the victim. A capable assailant, male or female, can induce these involuntary physical responses in the majority of males with force and/or with deception"._

"… _All the experts agree that rape is almost never about the sex. It's about power and control. Exercising the attacker's will over their victims'. Essentially proving that the perpetrator is the one in control. That they are stronger than the other person, their victim."  
_

"You're just a slut aren't ya, Eppes? Did all those women you sleep with have to do all the work? Did you ask them to put a strap on for you and pound you like I'm going to be doing to you? Did they get so tired of Slut Eppes that they couldn't get away from you fast enough? Did you just want to use all those women to cover up the fact that you can't get turned on by pussy without thinking about a man?"

Don was beginning to get an erection; he was half hard and King was actively watching him. Even knowing what he knew, Don still felt guilty and ashamed for his body's reaction and shook his head violently, too out of breath to say anything. King laughed, continuing to stroke and jerk Don's cock, moving closer to mouth his neck and bite his earlobe.

"Yeah, that's good, that's really good." King whispered huskily to the restrained man. "Once you're all hard for me, Eppes, it's gonna be me pounding inside you instead of this piece of plastic." King kept fondling Don's erection until his shaft reached its peak.

Stopping momentarily, King moved away from Don's neck, turning and grabbing a cock ring. Coming back, he continued to stroke Don while placing the cock ring with practiced ease.

And then he removed the dildo, letting it fall to the floor where it landed with a hollow crack.

Before Don could even take a breath, King had moved behind him and buried himself deep inside the agent. Bringing his arms around, the SWAT team leader pinched Don's nipples before running caressing hands over his flanks and stomach. Reaching down to play with Don's restrained penis caused the agent's anus to instinctively clamp around King's erection, spasming with the intrusion and pain.

King groaned in pleasure and laughed with cruelty, pulling Don against him tighter and harder. As the SWAT leader set a slow and measured rhythm, he moved one hand up to grab Don's hair, using it to pull him back and down before whispering into Don's nearest ear like a lover, "You like my cock shoved up your ass, Eppes?"

The agent shuddered, trying to shake his head, trying to squirm away from the man behind him.

Don had known what was going to happen to him and had thought he was capable of dealing with the… situation. However, in reality, Don's mind and body couldn't be as blasé about… about what King was doing to him. His thoughts whirled and Don fought against being overwhelmed with everything.

He fought against his body's natural reactions to the stimulation that was happening. He fought it, trying to make himself go limp while simultaneously simulateously struggling against the need to fight his attacker – Don wanted nothing more than to rip the man violating him into pieces. He fought his mind's reaction to the trauma he was going through, he couldn't afford to shut down right now – and he knew himself, he wouldn't shut down, but he'd pay for it later, like he always did, of course, just one more repressed 'thing' to deal with in a lifetime seemingly full of them. He fought against his thoughts – that he'd given in way too easily, for being unable to figure a way out of what was happening to him, that everything King had said was true… that he was a slut and he liked what was being done to him and that he'd used all those women for his own selfish purposes.

He barely registered his assaulter continuing to talk. "God, Don… you and Colby. You two… have the perfect… asses." King grunted, pulling Don's head further back and down so he could bite his neck while his other hand and arm pulled Don in harder and tighter to his body. Don couldn't even moan with pain, gasping as he was for oxygen to fill his lungs.

"Hell… maybe after… I get done… with you… I _should_… go after Colby… and Edgerton. Colby'd… definitely be good… for a lot of fucks… before he loosened up… much, I'm sure. After… awhile, I wouldn't… even have to drug him… 'cause he'd know… he was my bitch… by then." King grunted, speeding up his thrusts.

Don tried to shake his head, tried to tell King to leave his friends alone, but he just didn't have the breath or the strength.

King laughed, "You like being… my bitch, Don? You wanna… take their place?" King laughed again, panting slightly when Don shook his head weakly. Snorting, he continued, "Now Edgerton…, he'd take awhile… to get that _shoved_," King slammed into Don particularly hard on the word, "into… his head… enough that he'd… stop putting up… a fight. But… 'til then, he'd… give me a… lot of fun!"

Another part of Don's anatomy was beginning to chime in now and he fought to contain his audible reactions of his restrained erection.

King was panting heavily now and focused simply on pounding into the silent agent. A few moments later, he groaned and thrust into Don one last time, holding himself deep inside, using both hands to pull Don's tense and semi-resisting body harder against him.

When King bit his shoulder hard enough to break skin, Don, drenched in sweat, his whole body shaking with physical exhaustion and gasping like a racehorse at the end of the Kentucky Derby, passed out.

* * *

The three paragraphs in _italics_ regarding male sexual assault came from the following (check my 'homepage' – LJ – for links):

_The Forensic Nurse_: Ejaculation During Male Rape

./2008/10/27/ejaculation-during-male-rape/

_AC Associated Content Society_: Sexual Arousal in Male Victims of Rape

.com/article/788049/sexual_arousal_in_male_victims_of_?cat=47

Another source that is helpful for those having gone through such a trauma is:

_Abused Empowered Survive Thrive_ – Male Rape myths and facts, the rape of men.

./survivors/male/myths_about_male_

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please, talk with someone.


	28. Chapter 28

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part twenty-eight**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ **None**

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks. This thing is getting so complex, I feel like I'm floundering!

_AN: This chapter is filled with different POVs; hope they are relatively easy to keep up with._

_AN2: This chapter was a… just a really frigging difficult one to get out because of many things, not including the fact that it's 'boring' because it's filled with some of those pesky details that are done in law enforcement work. My betas made suggestions and I implemented some of them, left others and overall just want to get this thing posted so that we can get to the good stuff so, with that in mind, I'm sorry for the quality of it._

_This one's for you, Cissy :-)_

"_Charlie."_

_Charlie turned to find Ian a couple of feet away from him, eyes serious and concerned and, apparently, stymied for words._

Ian really didn't know what to say. He was a man who spoke his mind; if he had something to say, he said it; there were no wasted words and he didn't pull his punches. But Ian was feeling… frustrated. Charlie was a very smart man, he'd obviously come to the same conclusion that Ian, himself, had; that King had escalated and now he had Don.

But Liz had a point, kind of. Charlie was family of a kidnapping victim.

Looking at Don's younger brother now, Ian thought maybe he shouldn't have said what he'd said, or at least not said it so bluntly.

Before he could find the words though, Charlie was already saying something.

"Are you in love with my brother?"

Ian blinked, barely registering the professor's own dumbfounded expression regarding his own surprise at having voiced the question. However, despite having been blindsided by the query, Ian knew that it was definitely not the time, or the place – with so many law enforcement personnel, unknown or otherwise, coming and going around them – to talk about it.

Before either of them could react to the question though, David was there.

"We've got the CCTV coverage of the accident and Don getting taken."

The video was playing when David led a silent Ian and Charlie, with an anxious Alan, who'd heard David looking for his youngest son, into the solarium. The room was filled with a variety of law enforcement personnel in the midst of watching the last of the footage – showing the vehicle King had carried an unconscious Don to, driving away.

As the crowd in the room began to thin out, Nikki was rewinding the video for David and the others.

"Agent Montgomery said the techs were in the midst of pulling the rest of the Caltrans CCTV coverage to see if they can track King." Hitting play, she continued, "Until then, this is all we got."

Charlie and the rest of them watched as Don's SUV ploughed into the back of the semi truck in front of him. As each of them recalled the crunch of metal and shattering glass coming over the cell phone speakers, they then saw someone – King most likely – running over to the SUV. Time passed, the flames they had heard over the phone were now becoming visible and then King was pulling Don out of the wreckage. A couple steps away from it and King appeared to hit Don over the head with something and then carried him to his own vehicle before leaving the scene.

Charlie watched the video of his brother having the car accident and then being stuck in the wreckage with no one there but the man who they now knew to be the perpetrator they were after. Then Don was being pulled out of the crumpled SUV, knocked unconscious and carried to King's vehicle that sped away.

As the various agents and other personnel talked of the investigation, continuing to go through the various files and other information that Don, Ian and he had put together, Charlie took Nikki's place at the laptop. Rewinding the video, the professor focused on his brother – analyzing how he moved; did he have any injuries from the car accident? A moment later, he rewound the footage and watched it again… and again.

Even though he was exhausted, Charlie knew that he wouldn't, couldn't rest until they found Don; the longer it took to find him, the more time King had to… harm his brother and, if Don was already hurt from the accident, they had even less time to get to him before….

Shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the morbid turn his thoughts had taken, Charlie started to rewind the video once again. Before he could click the play button though, a hand stayed him. Looking up, he saw his father's concerned gaze and, as Alan made to speak, Charlie sat back hard from the computer, radiating frustration, anger and exhaustion.

While Alan knew that Charlie would go through the coverage again to give himself a start on whatever equations he would attempt to pull together to help find his brother, Alan grew concerned when Charlie only watched the video over and over, not even bothering to write anything down.

Putting his hand out to cover his son's on the mouse as Charlie made to watch the video again, Alan was worried to see how exhausted and troubled Charlie was at what was happening to his brother. Before Alan could speak however, Charlie pushed himself back from the computer.

When Alan made to put a hand on his nearest shoulder, Charlie was up and out of his seat, glancing around the solarium, one hand running through his curly hair before quickly leaving the room, seemingly completely oblivious to the concerned looks aimed in his direction.

When Charlie all but bolted from the solarium, Ian moved to follow, not wanting the professor to do something rash, especially since Ian was the only agent of the protection detail that was on duty at the moment. His cell chirped, interrupting his exit momentarily as he grabbed it from its holster at his belt, watching as Alan exited the room.

Automatically checking the caller ID, he almost cursed; a call from his own boss wasn't something that Edgerton wanted to deal with right now but he couldn't ignore him. Sighing, he answered the call in his usual manner as he continued to make his way from the solarium to the entryway of the living room.

Coming to a standstill as he spotted Charlie pacing to and fro, Ian was already preparing himself to be called away from LA, just when he was needed most.

… Just when he, himself, most needed to stay.

Moments later, David's phone, which he'd just closed, was ringing once again. Checking the caller ID revealed it to be from the Assistant Director's office and David briefly closed his eyes before answering.

A few moments later and he was motioning to Nikki and Liz to follow him. Approaching the sniper, Ian turned back to watch the handsome black agent leading Nikki and Liz, on her own cell phone, down the hall to him.

Clogging the entryway to the living room, they all saw what had had Ian's attention.

Charlie was pacing back and forth, a notepad with pen in one hand, his other running through his hair one moment and touching his face the next. Alan, who'd followed his youngest son out of the solarium, was now sitting at the dining room table with another glass of scotch, watching him with a mixture of sadness, concern and something unidentifiable.

Visibly pulling themselves from the scene, they all turned to David as he started speaking.

"We've been called back to the office. The Assistant Director's set up a briefing for a task force and he wants us there. Agents are on their way here for you to use for the protection detail as well as to clear out the solarium – Michaels wants everything regarding the investigation back to the conference room."

The others nodded while David continued, "I've been told you're to remain here to help unless something of higher priority comes down the line." David met Ian's gaze and the sniper nodded once, letting him know it wasn't new news to him. "HRT is prepping to leave Quantico; while they're going to be in charge of the actual search and take down, we and LAPD aren't going to be left out of it though. They're concerned that if it's left to us, LAPD and SWAT…." David trialed off leaving the rest unsaid.

While they understood that King needed to be apprehended, given everyone's involvement with him, it might cause some to use excessive force in the arrest, and no one wanted him to get out of what he'd done from a technicality or otherwise.

A moment later and they were moving into the living room proper, trying hard to keep their emotions regarding the case compartmentalized while watching Charlie and Alan's continuing distress.

While Ian, himself, was running on fumes – having only caught a couple of catnaps here and there since Wednesday – Charlie had a good twenty-four hours on him and had to be beyond exhausted; Ian had no idea how the man was still functioning. Even if Ian was used to going for longish periods without sleep when he was on a hunt, the sniper knew that if he didn't give himself some decent sleep soon, he'd be getting into the serious side effects of sleep deprivation. Given the time frame, Charlie had to be suffering some of those.

Don had been right when he said his brother could be just as intense as him when Charlie got something into his head. The professor seemed to be just as passionate and stubborn also – more so than anyone besides Don that Ian had ever met. Despite his appearance and the obvious distress he was showing, Charlie wasn't looking like someone who planned to give themselves a break anytime soon; it looked like the professor was going to force himself to keep going until he actually collapsed somewhere.

The doorbell sidetracked Ian from his thoughts and when neither of the Eppes moved to answer it, Liz, the closest to the door, went to see who it was. A moment later and there were another six agents in the house.

As Nikki showed Agents Baker and Stetson to the solarium, still housing several law enforcement personnel going through the various files, Ian pulled the other four aside.

A few moments later and the original four were gathered at the entry to the Craftsman.

"We'll keep you in the loop, Ian, just…." David looked to where the professor and his father still were.

"Go on, guys, I'll watch over them." Ian answered, nodding shortly, inwardly refusing to follow David's gaze. "The sooner you get that task force going, the sooner Don'll be home and everything will be back to what passes around here for normal."

The others attempted a smile and then started out the door. However, before he could close it, Nikki turned back to him.

"Get some sleep, Ian, you look like something that cat dragged in."

Ian snorted and then softly closed the door.

An hour later and Charlie had finally settled down at the table in the living room. He was surrounded with numerous pieces of yellow legal pad size paper that were filled with various equations.

From his place on the couch, Ian had put himself into a light doze, opening his eyes every few minutes to watch Charlie continue to push himself. Ian would be damned if he turned in before the professor; he needed to make sure that Don's brother was completely down and out for the count before he gave in to his own body's needs.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Charlie, or the agents assigned to him for the protection detail, or Alan for that matter, it was just that he'd told Don that he'd watch over them. Even when Ian was arguing with David, he remembered how Don's shoulders had relaxed when Ian said that he'd stay with his brother, even if Charlie and Alan needed to separate.

As long as Charlie was awake, there was a chance that he'd come up with some idea and go off like a shot, with no thought to himself. Much like the first case that Ian had worked on with the Eppes brothers, where Charlie had shown up when they were searching the area for a sniper. He'd nearly gotten his head blown off, just because he wanted to work on some real-time probabilities of where their shooter, Crane, could have been.

Ian's thoughts were interrupted by the chirp of his phone and a moment later, the agent was up and walking over to the television. Having turned it to the local news, he started back to the couch as he answered both Charlie and Alan's unvoiced question.

"David's going to be holding a press conference momentarily."

As they waited, Ian checked in with the other three agents, one inside and the other two walking the perimeter of the Craftman's grounds.

A few minutes later, David appeared at a small podium that had been set up on the promenade in front of the FBI's office. Looking at the various news personnel in front of him, he gave them just a few seconds before he started his statement.

_Almost five hours ago, Special Agent Don Eppes of the LA FBI office was involved in a car accident and then kidnapped from his wrecked vehicle. The kidnapper, Tim King, is wanted for not only the abduction of Agent Eppes but the murder of two Los Angeles police officers as well as a multitude of assault charges._

_Tim King is the former SWAT leader of the LAPD and is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. If seen, please do not attempt to confront or capture him in any way, and call the number that is listed at the bottom of your screen._

_At this moment, the LAPD and FBI are using every resource available to find King and Agent Eppes. It's unknown whether Agent Eppes suffered any injuries in the car accident but he may need emergency medical attention. If you have any information leading to King's apprehension and Agent Eppes' rescue, we urge you to call the number shown._

_Thank you._

David didn't give the press any time to ask him questions, simply walking back towards the office. As he began to leave the sightline of the cameras, he could be seen pulling out and dialing his cell phone. A second later and Ian's cell chirped again.

Checking the caller ID, Ian put the phone on speaker and set it on the living room table where Alan had now moved to.

"You're on speaker, David. What's up?" Ian pulled out a chair for himself, sitting between Charlie and the professor's father.

"Hey guys." David's cell was picking up sounds from the FBI lobby as he passed through. "HRT is still a few hours out from landing; task force is set up and we and the LAPD are already on the search.

"The techs haven't been able to track King via any of the Caltrans coverage we've pulled." David sighed and the 'ding' of an elevator was heard. When he continued, they didn't hear any background noise which meant that Sinclair was probably inside an elevator car alone.

"King just seems to disappear from any coverage a short time after the accident and we're beginning to think that he changed vehicles or something. We're pulling video from anything around the area the techs think he vanished from as well as along the most probably Caltrans routes."

At this, Charlie got up from the table and began to pace again.

"Understand, David. Anything else?" Ian responded tensely as he watched the professor working himself up again.

"To be honest… nothing. It's a waiting game right now while the coverage is pulled together and gone through as well as waiting on the tip line and the usual."

Ian nodded with complete understanding. While he hated it, he knew how it worked; it was classic really.

"K, David, thanks for calling."

"Catch you later, Ian." David said and then disconnected.

Ian ended the call and closed his cell.

He and Alan continued watching Charlie pace, Ian, moving back to the couch and Alan going back to his recliner.

A few minutes later, when Agents Baker and Stetson were finished packing up the case related materials in the solarium and began moving the boxes to their black SUV, Charlie announced that he was going to ride in with them to the office. At that exclamation, Ian wasn't the only one who had an objection to the idea.

However, before he could actually voice any of his, Alan was already out of his chair and trying to get his youngest son to forget going to the office until after he'd had a few hours of descent sleep.

"Charlie, you're exhausted. Let David and the rest of the team work on everything for now. You aren't going to do them any good if you're too tired to think straight."

The professor was already shaking his head, "Don doesn't have that kind of time. He needs us to find King, to find him, and he needs us to do it now."

"Charlie—" The eldest Eppes was cut off.

"Ian, you know that they need my help. David said they had to get hold of any CCTV coverage. That means from banks, stores and other businesses in the area. Getting all that video and sorting it is going to take a lot of time and it's going to strain the techs significantly, especially with everything else they're doing."

Ian clenched his jaw momentarily; Charlie was just too damn perceptive and intelligent for his own good some times. It was true though; the techs were going to be stretched to their limits with going through all that coverage as well as everything else. If Charlie could look at the footage, maybe he'd be able to come up with how King got away or, barring that, some type of search pattern that would lead them to him and Don much faster then a standard FBI one.

But Alan was right; Charlie was utterly exhausted. He had dark smudges, like bruises, under eyes that were blood-shot and red rimmed, not to mention his face was tinged a pasty grayish white.

"Charlie, it's going to take them a few hours to collect all that video and get it synched up. Why don't you take some downtime until then? I'll call David and let him know that as soon as they've done that, I'll take you down to help them pull it together." Ian offered, hoping that Charlie would see the wisdom in his suggestion.

The professor had turned away from both and was already stuffing papers into his bag. "I'll just go in now, maybe I kind find out where they keep losing King. Then I'll already be there when the other video comes in and can help them go through it. It'll save time."

As Charlie made to move to follow Agent Stetson out, Ian stepped in front of the youngest Eppes. "Charlie, you are exhausted and you need to get some sleep before you collapse."

"I don't have time to sleep; Don's needs us to find him and we aren't going to do that by standing around doing nothing." Charlie tried to go around the sniper and was simply halted when the man grabbed hold of his bag.

"Charlie, it isn't going to help anyone with your pushing yourself to the point of falling over when your body says 'enough' and you being put into the hospital for exhaustion." Charlie looked into the serious face of Ian and didn't really see him or know how much he was pushing the other man, moving once again to get passed the sniper.

Ian grabbed the younger man by the arms, pinning them against his side, sending a glance to Agents Stetson and Baker, who left quickly. Turning back to Charlie, Ian looked him right in the eyes.

"Charlie, you either go upstairs and get some rest, willingly, or I'll carry you up the stairs myself and handcuff you to the bed."

The man in question blinked. Swallowing, he opened his mouth but Ian didn't let him get a word out before he picked him up, bag and all, and put him over his shoulder and headed for the stairs. Charlie was too stunned to do anything for several moments and then he was yelling at his father.

For his part, Alan, while just as shocked by what Agent Edgerton was doing as Charlie, couldn't really complain as he knew everything the agent had said was valid.

"Don't look at me, I agree with him." He shouted back. "I just wouldn't have used his methods."

Alan thought about how he'd resorted to much the same thing when Charlie, even Don, was little and, sighing, corrected himself, "Well, maybe I would have if I could still carry him."


	29. Chapter 29

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part twenty-nine**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom; Laura_Trekkie; Chrissy6299

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks. This thing is getting so complex, I feel like I'm floundering!

_AN: This chapter is filled with different POVs; hope they are relatively easy to keep up with._

Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading!

* * *

Ian walked back down the stairs to the living room, seeing Alan sitting in his recliner as he passed by him to reach the couch. Eppes Senior had his eyes closed but Ian knew he wasn't asleep from the way the man was breathing and the tension in his body, and Ian sighed inwardly.

Once he'd set Charlie on his feet in his room, Ian had stood there with his arms crossed over his chest and stared pointedly at the man who tried to continue the previous discussion, arms gesturing and going from one idea to the next, none of which had made any sense to Ian because Charlie hadn't been able to continue one sentence before changing directions and starting another – a clear indication of sleep deprivation.

Under the sniper's unremitting glare and constant silence, the professor had finally given up all pretense of not being on the verge of collapsing and had gotten undressed and into bed.

Ian had snorted while shaking his head when he'd seen that Charlie had fallen asleep before his head had even made contact with the pillow.

He'd then stationed one agent in the upstairs hallway while having the other two patrolling the perimeter of the house, one taking the back and right side with the other taking the front and left side of the Craftsman.

Boots off and lying down on the couch, Ian made sure his phone was on vibrate and finally focused on relaxing. He needed sleep but his body had been going for so long that he knew it would take awhile for it to understand that it could rest now – unlike Charlie, he had never been able to just crash – and he sighed inwardly once more.

Ian was utterly exhausted. While he'd pushed himself often in a variety of hunts and other assignments, this one had a… this one… it was personal. And that frustrated, upset and otherwise screwed things up in ways the sniper didn't want to admit or think about.

Ian believed in the work he did; he knew that it was something that was needed and that he was well suited for – hell, he was pretty much made for it. When he was given an assignment, he pursued it with a focused intensity that bordered on… Ian smirked inwardly, his exhausted mind going off in another direction… Someone once told him that he was the bastard son of Yoda and Clint Eastwood (or Dirty Harry, he was too tired to remember which), but he had often thought of himself more along the lines of a mix of _The Terminator_, completely focused on its mission, and some old Wild West character, following a code of his own.

That attitude had seen him through a lot of jobs throughout the years, with the majority of cases being nothing that really pierced the armor that he had built around himself – that was needed in order to keep a certain detachment in place. Ian had learned very early in life that he couldn't afford to internalize things or they would damage him past an ability to heal; that knowledge about himself had served him well in the Army and beyond, especially with his career as a sniper.

That said, there were a few cases that got to him, that he got so involved in that he pushed himself outside the 'safe' limits he'd established long ago. While he'd come very close to crossing that proverbial line when Hoyle had shot Megan and he'd gone toe-to-toe with Don, Ian knew that none of them compared to what was going on now.

Ian's mind was all over the place and he fought to bring his focus back to concentrating on his breathing and making himself relax. It took a long while to do it and even longer to finally fall into a restless sleep.

* * *

Despite having turned in early, Ian hadn't gotten as much sleep as he should have. His slumber was interrupted by bits and pieces of real life, memories and anxieties that mixed together to form a hodgepodge of disturbing dreams. The one that finally woke him up all the way, and made him decide to get up, was a nightmare; one that had him finding Don but a Don that was so broken that there was no trace of the man they all knew.

Ian jerked awake to find the Craftsman quiet and false dawn beginning to lighten the sky beyond the living room windows. The first thing he needed to do, despite his need for coffee, was to check on Charlie and then check in with the other three agents, who would be rotated out in a couple of hours.

Charlie looked to be in almost the same position that Ian had left him in last night. The sniper focused on him, noted his rhythmic breathing and sighed silently; at least one of them looked like they were getting the sleep they needed.

He quickly used the bathroom and then headed back downstairs to the kitchen to make coffee. Some time yesterday, someone had had the foresight to set out a large 50-some cup coffee urn and it was still there, with all its supplies right next to it. Ian set it up and, while it brewed, he started the regular coffee pot that was a foot further down the counter. When the small one had enough for a cup in the carafe, Ian pulled it from the heating element and poured himself a cup and then replaced it.

Moving to the island, he took a seat on one of the stools and blew into the mug, trying to cool the dark liquid enough to take a drink – needing the caffeine to kick in as quickly as possible.

Fifteen minutes went by and Ian stood up, his mug empty now, and pulled another three cups down from the cabinet. After finding a serving tray, he put the filled mugs on it and then took all of it out to the other agents on duty. They'd have to take it black because Ian didn't bother with finding the sugar bowl or something to hold the milk.

Coming back to the kitchen, he found Alan preparing his own cup of coffee.

"Morning." Ian didn't know if he should address the senior Eppes by his first name considering the situation.

Alan nodded his head towards Ian, not giving the sniper help with his unvoiced thought.

Refilling his own mug, Ian then moved back to his seat at the island and Alan moved to the refrigerator, staring at its contents for a few moments before moving to gaze into a few of the cupboards. Obviously coming to some type of decision, he then moved back to the fridge and pulled out a few things before going back to one of the other cupboards.

Soon, pancakes, eggs and fried potatoes were coming together on the stove and all were done without a word from the elder man.

Ian continued to sit at the island because he didn't feel like drawing attention to himself by either offering help to Alan or by going back to the living room. Belatedly pulling his phone from its place on his belt, he checked for messages, debating on calling the office when he saw there were none.

Just about the time he decided to get up and go into the living room to make the call, Alan turned to him with a plate of the breakfast fixings.

"Agent Edgerton."

Ian sighed inwardly, "Thank you, Mr. Eppes," he replied as he took the plate from the older man.

At least he had his answer now.

* * *

Alan had had a restless night, his mind filled with everything that had happened over the course of the day, and he was struggling to come to terms with everything, not the least of which was Agent Ian Edgerton.

The eldest Eppes was, at heart, a pacifist. He'd done a lot of protesting against the Vietnam War and a variety of other things in his youth; but he was also an intelligent, articulate and understanding person. Alan understood the need for law enforcement and government – the need for order to minimize the chaos that comes with a civilized society. And having a genius for a younger son with an older brother who had, either consciously or unconsciously, sacrificed or otherwise given up a lot in his youth to accommodate him, Alan understood far more about human nature then he probably would have if things had gone differently.

Alan had, by his very existence, experienced a lot in life. Having Don, and now Charlie, involved with the FBI, he had also heard and learned a great deal more, especially when combined with the observations of those in Don's team as well as Amita and Larry – most of which he could have done without understanding.

Something he'd relearned over and over again was that there was always two sides to every coin; that everything wasn't black or white. And it seemed that Agent Edgerton was the living embodiment of that.

The man was apparently some type of celebrity within the ranks of the FBI – if Colby's reverent remarks were anything to go by – as well as in other circles and was highly regarded. But beyond that respect and admiration, there was an undertone of something…. It had been present during David's and Edgerton's confrontation yesterday but Alan had been so shaken with everything that had happened, he hadn't seen it clearly.

Alan had been able to identify it this morning though and it was one more thing to add to his growing uneasiness around the man.

Fear.

It wasn't the type of fear that he'd experienced when faced with armed police during a protest; it wasn't the kind he'd felt when one of his boys had been in trouble or danger when they were little or the kind that he lived with on a daily basis because of Don's job. It wasn't the kind he'd felt while listening to his eldest son's and King's conversation either.

No, this fear was the kind that seemed to speak to something… primal in the human brain. The kind that came to the fore when you couldn't breathe – when you'd swallowed the wrong way or you got into trouble in the water and you thought you were going to drown and you couldn't get your breath back.

It was… instinctual.

Alan sighed inwardly, trying to pin the elusive concept down. He supposed it was akin to the kind of fear that inspired the fight or flight response to go on alert.

At any rate, Alan now found himself very leery of the man; unable to relax around him. Oh, there was no doubt that the stress of having Don kidnapped, in the clutches of that serial assaulter, was quite enough to keep him from getting much rest, but having Edgerton around simply made it impossible.

Alan still hadn't figured out how to reconcile everything about Agent Edgerton as he plated up breakfast for the man.

* * *

Charlie came to awareness gradually, taking him several minutes to realize that he was awake and for his mind to actually kick into gear. Turning his head to the side, something that seemed inordinately difficult, he checked the time on his bedside clock and groaned.

It was far too early for him to be awake; although he remembered turning in quite early, for him, and under protest. Even so, why was he still so tired? Why did he feel like he'd been drugged? His thoughts were like molasses and his body was just as slow when he tried to move from the bed.

After a few minutes, Charlie was finally up and, his foggy mind slowly beginning to get with the program, decided that he should skip the bathroom and head directly for the coffee pot because he was in serious need of caffeine.

~~n3~~

While Alan had told his son, and Agent Edgerton, that he wasn't concerned with Don being gay or bi-sexual and just wanted Don to be happy, Alan didn't know what to think about what was going on between his son and Edgerton. And the whole matter with them both appearing to be interested in Colby, at the same time, was just too much for him to get his mind around.

While he could see what might attract his son to Colby… well, he liked Colby… Edgerton was… he was just too… he was… he was predatory… a wolf in sheep's clothing.

And now that Alan had seen the wolf, he was concerned what Don was getting himself into.

The man was danger incarnate and he was someone both his sons worked with, liked and respected. Alan was frightened of whatever repercussions would happen if Edgerton ever crossed a line or something with his sons.

~~n3~~

Charlie walked down the stairs quietly, after having waved sleepily to the agent in the hallway, and walked across the living room, noting that it was empty. Hearing voices in the kitchen, he was just about to open the door when he blinked, stopping short.

~~n3~~

"My son, both my sons, may trust you enormously, Agent Edgerton, but I don't." Alan took a breath, looking at the man who stared back at him, his face blank of expression. "Obviously Don has got to know your reputation, just as well as everyone else, but… you are a dangerous man, Edgerton; I knew that the first time I met you. It's a part of who you are that I've never been completely comfortable with, to tell you the truth, but it wasn't until yesterday that I saw how dangerous."

"I have accepted the fact that Don might never settle into a committed relationship. But there is that possibility he will and… I just don't want that possibility to be with you." Alan shook his head, his body radiating confusion about the situation, concern for his son and anxiety over the other man's presence. "To be completely honest, Ian, I am scared to death of the repercussions that would happen to him – to both of my sons – if you ever…." Alan swallowed, unable to finish his thought.

Looking the other man straight in the eyes, Alan frowned. "How can my son be attracted to such a dangerous person?" Sighing, Alan raised a hand to his face and rubbed it before looking back to Ian.

"I mean, I don't understand how a man can be attracted to another man to begin with, obviously, but… I would much prefer Don to be in a relationship with Colby over you, Agent Edgerton."

~~n3~~

Charlie stood outside the kitchen doorway, completely blindsided by what his father was saying to Ian. Charlie had known that his father was upset yesterday but he hadn't imagined that his dad would hold such an extreme point of view regarding the agent – especially now that Alan knew that Don… well… that seemed to be a large part of the problem – Don's attraction to Ian.

Not being able to let the rant continue, he burst into the kitchen, "Dad!"

Alan's eyes widened, "Charlie… what are you doing up so early?"

Ian looked to the youngest Eppes, his professional mask fully in place, and responded as if it were any other time they'd conversed. "Morning, Professor."

The sniper may have appeared as unruffled as ever but Charlie, even though he was usually oblivious to such things, had been around Ian long enough to understand that Ian wore a lot of masks and this was the one he used when he was stressed.

Charlie had no idea what to say, not only to his father, but to Ian as well. Before his muddled mind could come up with anything though, Alan was already speaking.

"Your mother and I never wanted this life for Don, Charlie – or you, for that matter. And now," Alan shook his head slightly before continuing, "look where it's gotten us: Don's been kidnapped by a murder/rapist; you're running yourself into exhaustion trying to help find him… and your brother's attracted to a man who hunts down other men."

Charlie barely registered a muscle jumping in Ian's cheek before his dad continued.

"Where did we go wrong?"

It was that agonizingly quiet yet emotional question that kicked Charlie's brain into gear.

"Dad, no, you and Mom didn't go wrong. Don and I… we just… we just grew into people who wanted to help others in the best ways we could."

"No. No, we, your mother and I, we made Don your protector when you were young. We told him, over and over and over, to take care of you – to make sure that you ate your lunch when you were at school and not to spend all your time in the math labs; to keep the bullies away, to keep you safe from them; to teach you how to be… to be a normal boy – get you involved in things that kids your age liked to do….

"We saddled your brother with you, we created this need that Don has to protect, to be responsible for… someone; maybe even everyone. And, in your brother's way, he couldn't do things half-way. He went into law enforcement – but he couldn't just do it at the city or county level."

Alan was banging the pots and pans used from breakfast around now. "_Nnnooo_, Don had to go for the _federal government_ kind; he had to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation and…."

The noise stopped and Alan turned back to a stunned Charlie and a silent statue of Agent Edgerton.

"I just don't know how to feel about all of this. You're a dangerous man Agent Edgerton. And…" Alan swallowed, stumbling over the words. "And if… if we get Don back…." He shook his head, momentarily closing eyes that were bright with tears before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I don't know if I can handle having you involved with my sons, Agent Edgerton."

Without prompting, Alan left the kitchen. 


	30. Chapter 30

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom; Laura_Trekkie; Rambler; the 'B' sisters

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.

_AN:_ Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading! This thing went through _several_ revisions and, just went I thought I was finished, it got a bit of a major rewrite. As this chapter stands now, I hope it was worth all the trouble – not to mention, the wait! – it took to get it to where it is and is not overkill… or underkill for that matter.

*N3S*

Excerpt from Chapter 27:

_King was panting heavily now and focused simply on pounding into the silent agent. A few moments later, he groaned and thrust into Don one last time, holding himself deep inside, using both hands to pull Don's tense and semi-resisting body harder against him._

_When King bit his shoulder hard enough to break skin, Don, drenched in sweat, his whole body shaking with physical exhaustion and gasping like a racehorse at the end of the Kentucky Derby, passed out.  


* * *

_

Don's body jerked convulsively with reaction to being sprayed with the almost freezing water from the hose King was aiming at him, but Don didn't actually come to any type of real awareness until the man started spraying it over his face and head.

Still hanging in the chains, Don sputtered and coughed as he struggled to breathe. His overwhelmed mind fought to sort through all the stimuli surrounding him and picked up the smell of urine – his bladder, full to bursting, had obviously released some time during his unconsciousness – and the stench of sex.

"Oh, looks like Donnie had a little accident."

His body, beleaguered with the stress and strain it had been under for hours, made processing King's comment, in a voice reminiscent of a parent with a very small child, almost impossible to understand.

"Do you have to poopoo, Donnie?" Came at him in the same tone and then King was behind him. Before Don could understand what was happening, King shoved the garden hose up his butt and a scream was ripped from his throat.

Eyes rolling to the back of his head, Don passed out once again.

*N3S*

King was manhandling Don into some position on his hands and knees, his hips resting on something, butt up in the air, when Don came around again. The room was now beginning to lighten with the rising sun and the agent was confused. The last thing he could recall was King moving him from the chains to the mat on the raised platform that had been behind him while he had been strung up. How did he get here?

When his body balked at whatever King was trying to do to it, he moaned and tried to pull away from the man. King laughed, "So, finally back with the land of the living, Eppes?"

With that, the SWAT leader roughly finished jerking Don's left arm into position and Don heard something click. When he tried to pull his arm back, it gave, but only minutely.

His sluggish mind slammed into gear with a surge of adrenaline; he was being tied down!

Panicking, Don tried pulling his body away from whatever he'd been strapped to and found that his entire lower half was restrained in such a way that it prevented almost any movement. His upper torso, especially his chest, protested the vigorous movements and he groaned. Between the car accident, the rape and being strung up yesterday, he was in bad shape.

As the dark haired agent continued to fight against his bonds despite the pain, using his free arm to try and punch his assaulter, King laughed again.

Coming around to restrain Don's other arm, King stayed out of range and watched the man flail around uselessly. When it appeared that Eppes was tiring, King moved in and grabbed the arm, squeezing hard and smiling cruelly into Don's face.

"Glad to see you're with it this morning, Eppes. It was real disappointing to have to clean you up and put you to bed last night like an invalid." King said in a condescending voice.

Don didn't verbally respond, choosing to simply throw a glare at his assaulter. When he didn't give any other reaction, King smirked and made to move the arm he'd captured into the waiting restraint. Don jerked his arm and, catching the man slightly by surprise, almost freed it from King's grip but the man scowled at him before simply giving Don's head a knock with his fist. While Don was stunned with the blow, King finished binding the arm and then moved away.

A moment later, Don could hear King sliding something up behind him and struggled to turn his head to look. What he saw from the corner of the eye closest to the man didn't really register for a moment; then pictures of various crime scenes of pornography and prostitution cases came to mind and his eyes widened. Don renewed his efforts to try and get out of the restraints, succeeding only in opening his already healing wounds.

King laughed, "Ah, so you know what this is, Eppes?" Watching the dark haired agent continue to struggle on the modified punishing bench, the man grinned ferally. "I admit, it's a bit daunting to look at but you're going to love what it's going to do to you." Bringing the 'fucking machine' closer to Don's upraised backside, he continued, "Well, you probably won't like it at all, but _I'm_ going to _love_ watching it pound into you for awhile."

Don felt the man moving up closer to him, getting the machine into place, and knew that he couldn't do anything to prevent what was going to happen to him in just a few moments, just as he hadn't been able to do anything yesterday – Dear God, he hoped it was only yesterday, he couldn't bear to think he'd been here more than one day, even if it seemed like it.

As King set up the machine, Don continued his futile attempt to get himself free, sweat breaking out over his abused and exhausted body. His assaulter laughed again as the sex machine's linear arm was brought close enough to touch Don's anus, the cool metal telling the agent that King hadn't bothered with putting one of the attachable dildos on it.

And then the thing was being… King was pushing the thing into him with no preparation and Don whimpered, biting his bottom lip with the pain. As it was pushed in further, stretching the places that had been torn last night – it _was_ only last night, wasn't it? – Don couldn't help the stuttered moan that escaped him or the almost dry tears gathering in his eyes.

When the metal was fully seated in him, King paused for a moment, making some type of adjustment on the machine, Don assumed. And then, he must have flipped a switch or pressed a button because the machine retracted from Don and then moved back into him, the bare metal continuing to put pressure on his already abused insides. The agent couldn't help the pain filled groans that kept escaping him.

A few moments later, the machine was stopped and when it started again, King must have put something on the end of the piston arm because, while it was larger, it was more yielding then the metal had been. Yes, it wasn't as hard, but being larger presented new agony for Don; stretching his torn and, if he was interpreting it right, bleeding anus and rectum.

"Now… I'm just going to sit over here and watch for a bit, Eppes." With that, King set the machine going again. "Enjoy." The man said, laughing as he turned away from the bound agent.

Don was aware enough to sense King sitting a short distance away from him and, as time went by and the machine sped up and slowed down at irregular intervals – Don didn't know if it was programmed to do that or if his abuser had a remote that controlled it – he began to hear… sounds… coming from that direction.

Don refused to look to confirm what his traumatized mind was registering – that King was actively getting off on what was happening to him. He must have faded out because the next thing he knew, King seemed to have materialized directly out of thin air next to him. Head bowed and eyes closed with exhaustion, Don felt bile rise in his throat after getting a whiff of the strong odor of semen the man carried with him.

Then there was a grip on his cock – his shaft was hard from the stimulation the sex machine was applying to his prostate – and Don couldn't help the whimper that escaped when King stroked him a couple of times.

"God, Eppes, you look incredible with that machine fucking you." King was whispering into his ear. Don reluctantly opened his eyes at the same time as he tried to move his head away from the man and saw that his rapist was completely nude and had a hard, leaking erection.

King grabbed a handful of his victim's hair and pulled his head around to face him. Stroking his captive's erection again and watching him tremble and hearing his cracked voice moan, King laughed with mild amusement, his voice husky, "You really are a slut, aren't you?"

Don wanted to shake his head but he didn't want to chance King getting any more violent with him, however, he refused to look away from his tormentor. The man seemed to take his silence for an affirmative because he laughed again and increased the pressure on Don's shaft, speeding up a little, and Don gritted his teeth but stayed silent and continued to glare at him.

And then King was pushing the sex machine out of the way and shoving his cock balls deep into Don and pounding into him. Don's voice cracked as he screamed with pain, unable to keep quiet. King was bigger than the dildo the machine had been using on him and the abrupt plunging into him by King simply ripped open the tissues of Don's rectum more.

As King rode him, a part of Don's mind registered that the machine was still going and that he'd rather still have it inside of him instead of his rapist.

King lowered himself to blanket his victim. Using one hand, he pulled Don's head backwards, straining the man's neck, gazes meeting, one with pain and the other with sadistic pleasure, and then he began to whisper into his ear, "If you beg, Eppes… I might ease up on you."

Don wished to hell that that was true, but he knew it wasn't. Tim King had been assaulting his co-workers and others for years; he enjoyed what he was doing too much to consider anything else. But a small part inside the black haired agent wanted to scream at the man to stop….

"Maybe I'll even stop altogether."

… to please stop…

"Just beg for me, Eppes."

… to beg the man to stop…

"Make me hear that you want me to stop."

… to just stop and leave him alone.

Don found his mouth opening but King had let go of his head and started to pound furiously into him. The punishing bench would have been moving had it not been bolted to the floor, but Don, himself, was being pummeled against the support his hips were resting on, his arms and legs were being forced to move inside their restraints, rubbing against them and opening the wounds on his wrists and ankles further. King would be leaving finger sized bruises on his hips also.

Don sobbed dryly with pain. _God, please make him stop!_

Bending down, King grabbed Don's shaft and began stroking it hard and fast.

"Come for me, Eppes."

The agent shook his head frantically, biting his bottom lip, tasting blood, but he knew it was only a matter of time before his body obeyed the man – there was too much stimulation for it not to.

There was more pressure applied.

"Come on… Come on, Eppes… Come for me."

He felt it start, the tingling at the base of his spine and he groaned.

King laughed and licked along Don's neck and shoulder before demanding, "Now!"

And Don's body convulsed as much as it could in the restraints, a sob barely choked off before it could get out of his mouth. He felt his semen splattering his stomach and King's hand and then his assaulter shouted, shoving his cock deeper into Don before then falling on top of him.

"You're my bitch now, Eppes, aren't you?"

Don was shaking with emotions, aftershocks of his climax and exhaustion, but it wasn't over. King disengaged from him and repositioned the fucking machine. Just after it started pounding into him again, going faster and penetrating deeper than before, King grabbed a handful of Don's hair once again, forcing Don to look him in the eyes.

"I am going to make you beg, Eppes. Make no mistake about it." Don couldn't muster a glare and tried to look away, or shake his head, but King pulled on his hair harder. "You will beg me to stop…" King smiled wickedly, "or not to stop, before I'm finished with you." With that, King pressed a hard, bruising kiss to Don's mouth, biting at the man's lips and then pushed Don's head away from him brutally, releasing his hair and then walked off.

Don felt liquid seeping from him and could guess at blood and King's semen. Another choked off sob stuck in his throat before he allowed himself to seek that silent place in his mind, something he'd found inside of himself as he was forced to endure what was happening to him for so many hours.

*N3S*

Don had no idea how long King kept the fucking machine going, but by the time he turned it off, the dark haired agent was barely conscious, his entire bottom half completely dead weight. Don's arms were numb, but his shoulders, upper back and chest were on fire, his neck was stiff and cramped and his head hurt – his hearing oddly muffled – perhaps from all the blood that seemed to have settled in his head.

King moved the machine away from him and then returned. Don's body didn't react in any way as King unfastened him from the bench, reattaching the chains of earlier. Using the winch system, King started moving Don back over to the mat on the raised platform.

The agent's entire body was in agony, enough so that his mind was completely occupied with it, blocking out everything else. He had no idea that King was talking to him… questioning him… was angry with him, until his body convulsed, bringing Don's mind back to some sort of awareness.

King had stopped in the area Don had been hanging in yesterday – it _was_ only yesterday, wasn't it? – suspended horizontally in mid-air and being sprayed with the near freezing water once again.

"Was beginning to think you'd gone into a coma, Eppes." King gave one final pass with the hose, paying particular attention to Don's face. "Need to make sure you're awake for some more fun."

Don had been trying to keep the water from going down his nose while trying to drink some of the precious liquid but he couldn't help the whimper that escaped from him with King's comment and his abuser laughed with dark humor at the sound.

King turned the water off and put the hose away and then finished moving Don over to the mat. Laying him flat, King watched as Eppes' body sagged into the cushioned surface, Don groaning as he settled into the new position.

Don was hurting; his mind completely overwhelmed with the pain. His entire body was in more agony than he could ever remember being in. As his shocked mind struggled to work through the latest trauma, the thought came to him that, even with the agony he was in now, most of his body was still numb. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like when the feeling returned, especially to everything below his waist.

His mind automatically slipped into that silent place again, completely unaware of what was going on around him.

*N3S*

The SWAT leader snorted, "Shit, Eppes, you're a hell of a lot softer than I'd thought you were." When Don made no reaction, King switched to the voice he'd used at the beginning of the day, "Does Donnie need a little nap before playtime?"

Still not getting any type of reaction from the prone man, King used a fist to the gut. Don's body reacted automatically but Don himself was too unaware to do anything. Making a disgusted sound, King turned away after fastening Don's restraints down so he couldn't move from where he was.

*N3S*

He must have dozed off again because Don was awakened to find his arms restrained over his head – his fingers brushing against bars that were where a headboard of a bed would have been; his legs spread apart, bent at the knees and tied down so he couldn't move.

And King was hovering over him, and then lying on him.

Don could feel King's lower torso lying against his pelvis, the man's chest hair rubbing against his stomach.

The tortured agent tried to lick his dry and cracked lips but he couldn't get any saliva worked up to do any good. The last liquid he'd actually consumed, besides what he'd almost choked on when King had sprayed him with the hose, was coffee at the office before he'd left to get to Charlie's. His eyes were hot, dry and, he assumed, bloodshot, and when Don closed them, it felt like they were being wiped with sand paper. Like he'd thought, with his body no longer numb, the pain was incredible; centered especially in his butt. He could tell he was raw and he was sure it wasn't any residual water from his being hosed down earlier that he was feeling trickling out of his body.

King said something but Don hadn't even registered it before a hard slap across the face brought his disjointed mind back to focus; his assaulter's face was set in a scowl and his eyes were hard.

"You're really beginning to piss me off with that, Eppes. No wandering off now." King said in a dangerous voice. And then his face broke out into a vicious and wicked smile, "It's play time."

And with that, another round of hell ensued for Don.

*N3S*

"You know, Eppes, out of all the people I've fucked, you and Colby really do have the sweetest asses." King grunted as he pushed himself harder into the prone man underneath him.

Don was too occupied with the pain his body was in, the need to keep breathing, to make any response. King had been pounding into him for what seemed like hours, the smell of sex and sweat, with an undercurrent of blood, was strong in the air. The dark haired agent had been forced to orgasm three times so far, each one ripped from him by the sensations King was creating, each one exceedingly painful for multiple reasons, least of which was that his body was incredibly dehydrated.

He barely registered his assaulter continuing to talk. "Like I said earlier… maybe I should go get Colby… and Edgerton."

And like last time, Don tried to shake his head but he just had no breath or strength to do so, but he _was_ able to manage a glare at the man.

King laughed, "You really do like being my bitch, don'tcha, Eppes? Or are you just a slut who doesn't want to share me with anyone else?"

Don grimaced as King slammed into him even harder. God, would this never end?

Looking to the windows, he noticed it was dark outside. Where was his team?

King stopped his thrusting into Don and started caressing him, pretending to be a lover, running his fingers through the sweat that covered his body. Don shuddered with revulsion, closing his eyes.

"Oh, here's a thought, Eppes. Considering what I saw of you and Ian standing over Colby's bed that time… I'm thinking you both want Granger." Don kept his eyes closed, trying not to react, and King continued, "I could have all three of you here, with me, and take all of you, one after another whenever I wanted. Watching you watch each other get fucked by me… that would really rev all of you up I bet."

Don couldn't help it and tried to shake his head, feeling it rock back and forth once. He licked his lips, not that it did any good and his voice cracked as he made to respond. "You're deluded, King."

The man chuckled. "Oh yeah, set up some video cameras for all the right angles… bet I could make some real good money putting movies out there – 'FBI agents get fucked' – ex-Army officer and triple agent, premier sniper and fugitive retriever and—"

Don's sluggish mind didn't allow him to come up with any good rejoinders so he settled for a simple, "fuck you," as he tried to move, but the restraints held him securely in place.

King, apparently sensing some sort of victory after so long of getting almost no response from him, smiled cruelly.

"A… what are you, Eppes? Has-been minor-league baseball player, unknown brother of a math genius, son of a 60's radical…." Don was struggling hard to move now and saw King's upper body shrug and the wicked smirk of his mouth as the man resumed his thrusting.

King shoved into him hard, "Well… two outta three ain't bad."

Don was weakly but actively trying to get King off of him, to fight against his restraints now, but he just didn't have anything left in him.

"And you're… nothing but… a sick fuck… that needs taken down." Don was able to get out, gasping through his current rape.

And then King was grasping his erection, stroking him again and smiling down at him. "This 'sick fuck' has got one of the highest ranking FBI agents in LA under him, Eppes."

King increased the pressure and quickened his strokes on Eppes' cock as he simultaneously pounded into him in counterpoint. Bending down, King grasped one of Don's nipples in his teeth and grazed it painfully while looking up through his lashes. "Just beg for me, Eppes; make me hear that you want me to stop."

Don's body finally gave out, his strength completely gone, having to simply accept what King was doing to it. All he wanted was for what was happening to him to end. He couldn't… he just couldn't deal with everything that was happening to him anymore.

Don opened his mouth…

He watched, with eyes that wanted not to see, as King watched him avidly…

… If Don had had the fluid to spare, his eyes would have been tearing; God, he was exhausted…

And then…

"Go to hell." The abused and cracked voice came softly.

King smirked. "Oh, Eppes… Eppes… Eppes," he said, simultaneously shaking his head and pounding into the man with each word, "All you have to do is beg me to stop," King changed the rhythm of his grasp on Don's erection and his thrusting, "… or to keep going, and maybe I'll do whichever you ask me to … maybe I'll even let you go."

"Please…." Don's voice was barely audible. He tried to work whatever saliva he had left, around in his mouth and swallowed. "Please, Tim… please stop…. _Please… stop_." The abused and cracked voice broke on the last part.

King shouted with triumph and thrust into the man under him a couple more times before climaxing, stroking Eppes to his own completion.

"See, Eppes, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" King gloated, running his hands over Don, pinching his nipples and then bringing his mouth down to lick them.

Looking up through his lashes, King watched Eppes as he continued, "But… why would I do that?"

Don turned his head away from the man, the eye closest to the mat letting a drop of liquid fall from its eyelash, and retreated fully into his mind.

*N3S*

An hour later, after getting no further reaction whatsoever from his seemingly catatonic victim, King called it a night and left after making sure Eppes was restrained to the raised, cushioned platform once more.

However, when he wasn't able to get any reaction from the dark haired agent on Sunday morning – from beating, raping or threatening everyone from Granger and Edgerton to Charlie and Alan – King decided that maybe having one of them in the flesh, right in front of Eppes, would be more of an incentive for the man to get with the program.

King, smiling with anticipation, thought it would be a hell of a lot more fun as well.

* * *

Having caught up on the news before leaving his bolt hole, King arrived at the hospital around mid-morning. Despite any security precautions that may have been put into place, as well as having his picture being bandied about all over television, internet and newspapers, the man was confident of his ability to get into and out of the building, especially the ICU ward, without any trouble.

A bit of recon later and he was of the same mind; there was nothing to impress or deter him.

He'd also found out, from listening to a few of the medical staff, that Granger seemed to finally be making progress at emerging from his coma. That would be good. If King couldn't get any more fun from Don, he would at least get something from the blond.

Having changed into a stolen set of scrubs, a face mask hanging near his neck and a paper cap for his head, King strolled into the ICU ward as if he did it every day. Gaining access to Granger's room was easy.

King looked down at the unconscious blond, thinking about his sweet, tight ass, and started disconnecting the medical paraphernalia from the man. He stopped when he saw Granger's eyelids flutter open.

Smiling down at the injured agent, King watched as awareness and then recognition blossomed in Granger's gaze.

"Hey there, Granger. Told you I'd be back."


	31. Chapter 31

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty-one**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Munchkinofdoom; Laura_Trekkie; Rambler

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.

_AN: _Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading!

* * *

[_Saturday morning, early_]

When Alan left the kitchen, Charlie stood frozen near the doorway, where he'd stopped when he had burst into the conversation, his mind reeled with everything his father had been ranting at Ian about. Even though the sniper was still wearing his professional mask, Charlie could see the strain in his posture – much like what he'd seen when Ian and David talked yesterday.

"Ian—"

"Don't, Charlie—"

"Please, Ian, listen to me. I know that I'm not the best when it comes to… to dealing with people, but I know my dad and I know that, while he might have meant some of the things he said, he didn't mean to say them the way he said them – dad just needs time to process all of this." Charlie wasn't even bothering to try and stop his rambling for a breath – he had to try to repair the damage that his father had done.

While he'd been listening to his dad's tirade at Ian, several things had flashed through Charlie's mind – things that made a lot of other things make a lot more sense. And now, he was afraid that if he couldn't get Ian's thoughts sidetracked, by the time they got Don back, 'whatever' had been going on between his brother and the sniper, would be irrevocably damaged.

"And when Don is back and safe, dad will feel a lot better…"

"Charlie—" Ian tried to interrupt but Charlie kept going.

"… And he'll talk with Don… and Don… Don will talk with dad and tell him that everything's fine and that dad doesn't have to worry about him, or me, around you; that you wouldn't put either of us in danger or do anything to hurt us.

Once again, Ian tried to get a word in but, again, the mathematician just kept talking.

"Don wouldn't trust you like he does, he wouldn't allow you to be around him like he does, if he felt that you'd do something to me, to dad—"

"Charlie, _stop_!"

*N3S*

"Charlie, _stop_!"

Ian hated talking about… personal things; he hated opening himself up, to anyone, and having to do so, especially to Don's little brother….

"You're dad… Alan… Mr. Eppes is right. I am a dangerous man and he has every right to be… he has every right to his… how he feels about me. He has every right to be concerned about Don… about both of his sons… being around me."

Ian shook his head with frustration and growled to himself. He hated the fact that he was stumbling over his words and sounded less than utterly all together and completely certain.

He turned away from Charlie and made his way over to the coffee pot and poured another cup, more for something to do than because he wanted it. He certainly didn't need to add any more caffeine to his acid stomach; a stomach that was in knots, making him nauseous and creating a decidedly bitter bile to be lurking in the back of his throat.

Ian paced himself as he felt the youngest Eppes' eyes watch his every move.

*N3S*

Charlie once again cursed himself for his lack of understanding and inability to deal well with people. The only thing he could think of to say might very well make the situation worse, but he felt he needed to at least try toget his point across.

Stepping forward, Charlie moved to where the sniper could see him out of his peripheral vision. "Ian, please, don't … don't take off…. Wait and talk with Don. He'll tell you that whatever it is dad's concerned about, whatever _you_ think dad is right about, isn't a concern for him."

Charlie chanced moving close enough to reach a hand out to touch Ian's arm. When the agent did nothing but turn his head to face him, he continued, "I know he'll say that because I know _I'm_ not concerned with any of that."

*N3S*

Ian flashed back to – was it only yesterday morning? – when they had gotten out of the elevator after seeing the AD.

_Ian, sensing Don's regard, turned his head slightly, raising a questioning brow. When Don didn't make any response, the sniper smirked._

_Don snorted and said a near silent 'thanks,' to which Ian barely nodded his head, before growing serious. "We do the same thing we had planned, only all of us need to be better than on full alert. There's no telling how fast this is going to get out of control and I don't want anyone as collateral damage when it goes down."_

_Ian was already nodding his head, "I'll stay with Charlie and Alan. If they need to split up, I'll grab David to watch Alan while I stick with the Professor." Seeing Don's shoulders lose some of their tension, he knew he'd made the right call._

_Don nodded to the sniper and then continued into the bullpen while Ian headed back to the elevators._

"_Ian!" The sniper turned back to Don, finding the man striding towards him. "Make sure Charlie gets some sleep, he's been working this thing since Wednesday afternoon remember."_

_Ian nodded, "I'll do my best."_

"_Thanks."_

Don loved his brother and, obviously, Charlie loved him back. Charlie telling him everything would be okay, gave the sniper some hope that the situation wouldn't be unsalvageable.

Hope. That was something Ian wasn't used to trusting or even thinking about really. It implied that he wanted or needed something beyond himself… beyond his abilities… beyond his control.

*N3S*

As Charlie watched, Ian took a breath and swallowed, before bringing one of his hands up to squeeze the one that he'd placed on Ian's arm. Nodding once, he said. "Thanks, Charlie."

Charlie smiled slightly and nodded once in agreement. As Ian moved away from the counter, Charlie took his place near the coffee pot and began fixing a cup of the hot and bitter brew for himself as he tried to focus on his own thoughts.

To his surprise, Charlie found himself trembling as he poured sugar into his coffee. Swallowing, he tried to get his body under control before he had to go to the fridge for the milk. When he heard Ian exit the kitchen, Charlie simply sat down on one of the stools, forgoing the milk, and let himself shake, hoping that if he did so, it would sort itself out sooner.

Was dad right? Did he and mom foster whatever protective instinct Don had as a big brother to Charlie into something so fierce that it turned into a need to go into law enforcement?

Had Charlie's leaning or counting on or taking that protective nature for granted, reinforced his parents' teachings and Don's own instinctive need to protect his little brother? Was he still doing that?

And Charlie, he'd thought nothing of it… In fact, Charlie remembered instances when he had used it to get Don to do things that his brother hadn't wanted to do…. Charlie shook his head.

If their parents were at fault… wasn't Charlie too? Were they all at fault for Don being in danger so often? And if that was true, then ultimately, Alan and Charlie had created the situation they were now facing.

Charlie stood up so fast, his stool fell over, crashing to the floor. He was shaking uncontrollably now, fighting against the burning tears in his eyes and his breath was coming in gasps. However, before he could do anything, Ian was through the kitchen door, gun drawn, eyes sweeping the room before the man turned his focus on him.

Charlie was surprised to see the open concern showing on the man's face.

*N3S*

Ian had left Charlie alone in the kitchen but had stayed close. He'd seen the professor trembling slightly, understanding how Alan's rant had affected the younger man and, not really knowing what he could say or do to help, Ian had simply chosen to let him deal with it on his own. Now, seeing Charlie shaking even harder, his eyes overly filled with unshed tears and looking as distraught as he did yesterday, Ian figured that leaving him alone hadn't been the best idea.

The sniper, feeling a disturbance in the air behind him as the door cautiously opened, turned to face two of the newly arrived agents who were in the process of scanning the room, guns in hand.

"Everything's fine, Charlie just knocked his stool over. Go and check in with the other agents." Both of the men looked to him and then curiously over to Charlie before moving to comply with the sniper's orders.

*N3S*

Alan had been in the living room when Ian had stepped out of the kitchen and began hovering near the dining area. He'd kept an eye on the man, already uncomfortable and distressed over Ian's presence; he couldn't help wondering what had happened in the kitchen after he'd left.

A loud noise came from the kitchen and Alan watched Ian throw himself through its door even as he, himself, was halfway across the room – still getting there after the two agents who'd arrived moments earlier – more frightened than he could have imagined.

As the two newcomers left, he took their place. Seeing the shape Charlie was in, Alan shoved passed Edgerton and hurried to his side, shooting a glare at Ian as he pulled his youngest son into a loose embrace.

"Charlie?"

Charlie just shook his head, still trembling.

"This," Alan tightened his arms around his son, turning his head to glare at the agent he'd ranted at earlier, "is why I don't want you involved with my sons, Agent Edgerton.

"What did you say to him before you left the kitchen?"

Before Ian could do more than send a disbelieving look Alan's way, Charlie was throwing his head up and away from his father.

"Dad! Ian didn't do anything!"

Alan looked at his son with a frown, but Charlie cut him off, "We – you and me – we got Don in danger. If it hadn't been for us, Don wouldn't be missing right now. King wouldn't be hur… hurting him right now!" Charlie stumbled over the end of the sentence and Alan was shocked silent as Charlie began pacing the kitchen.

Before the younger man could get himself as worked up as he was yesterday, Ian was in front of him, hands high up on his arms, near the young man's shoulders. As Ian opened his mouth to speak, Alan moved towards his son, already asking, "Where on Earth did you get that idea, Charlie?"

Charlie's answer stopped Alan cold, "You!"

As the elder Eppes fought to understand his son's reasoning, Ian lightly shook Charlie to bring his attention back to him.

"Charlie, I need you to calm down, ok. I need you to breathe, ok."

Ian's calm voice seemed to break through to Charlie and he followed the man's instructions.

After a handful of deep breaths, Ian moved Charlie over to the stool that was still standing while Alan watched them.

"Ok, Charlie, listen to me." Ian was about a foot away from the younger man, bent slightly so he was almost eye-to-eye with him. "However your mind came to the conclusion that Don getting kidnapped by King was your fault, or your dad's, is wrong." When Charlie made to argue, Ian simply ran over whatever he was going to say.

"No, Charlie. None of what's happening right now is your fault."

When Charlie made to speak again, looking at Ian, Alan kept his mouth shut. He needed to know what was going on in his son's mind.

Ian nodded his head slightly. "But… we… we made him go into law enforcement. He wouldn't be in this situation if—"

Alan suddenly understood that Ian honestly had nothing to do with the state he was in right now; that it was _him_ who'd caused Charlie's panic.

"Oh, Charlie…" Alan raised his hands to wipe at his face.

Ian righted the stool Charlie had knocked over and sat in front of the young mathematician.

*N3S*

Ian's respect and admiration for Don went up another couple of notches. Charlie was a brilliant young man but he was such a… a child with how he saw/interpreted the world – how things worked and… everything – around him. He really did flounder when it came to the human condition. And Don, having to deal with this as he was growing up – trying to find his own way through life at the same time….

"Charlie, I need you to listen to me, alright?" Ian waited for Charlie's answer – a nod – before continuing. "Don loves what he does. He's very good – one of the best I've ever seen or worked with or heard about – at what he does.

"Given what I know about Don, he's never been the type to look the other way or to not give his all at whatever he does."

Ian watched Charlie, saw his shaking easing and knew the younger man was processing what he was saying.

"Your brother couldn't be the man he is, with the instincts he's got, if it wasn't already in him when you two were growing up together. If anything, it would have shown him who he was a lot sooner than the average person."

Ian continued, "Whatever you, or Alan," Ian gave the man a quick glance before turning back to the professor, "thought you did or didn't do, you did not push Don into doing this. You did not force him into law enforcement or the FBI, Charlie. And you sure as hell didn't have anything to do with the situation we're in right now. Ok?"

Seeing Charlie finally beginning to relax, Ian then smirked, attempting to put him at ease further. "Did you really think, as stubborn as your brother is, you could've pushed him into joining the FBI without him having his own desire to do so?"

Charlie paused for a moment and then blushed slightly as he shook his head. When he didn't say anything, Ian teased, "You must still be suffering from sleep deprivation, Professor, 'cause that certainly wasn't reality."

Charlie looked to Ian, taking in his expression, and then gave his own smirk.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the only one tired… or jumping to conclusions around here." At the last, Charlie looked to his father and Alan sighed, avoiding his gaze.

"Why don't you go shower, Charlie. I'll have breakfast ready for you when you come back down." Alan said as he moved to the sink.

Charlie turned a concerned look from his father to Ian and the sniper sighed before using a hand to wave the professor towards the door.

It was clear that Charlie didn't want to leave the two alone, probably fearing a repeat of their earlier conversation. However, when Ian gave him another look with a jerked motion of his chin this time, Charlie gave them each one more glance before leaving the kitchen.

When Ian heard Charlie on the stairs, he turned to face Alan.

"Look, Mr. Eppes—"

"Agent Edgerton—" Alan had begun to turn around, speaking at the same time.

Ian closed his mouth, inwardly gritting his teeth, and nodded at the older man.

Alan sighed and raised one hand up to his forehead, spreading his fingers apart, using his thumb and middle finger to press against both his temples. "Agent Edgerton, I apologize for my outburst earlier. I thought…" the man sighed. "Well, what I thought obviously wasn't true.

"As for everything else," He paused momentarily before continuing. "I can't deal with anything else right now and I'd appreciate it if we could just leave it alone." And then he turned back to the sink.

Ian closed his eyes for a moment, silently grinding his teeth together before he opened them and glared at Alan's back. _Damn the man_.

"Apology accepted, Mr. Eppes," he replied somewhat stiffly, and then, before he could lose his temper, Ian strode out of the kitchen and back to the living room.

*N3S*

It was still, relatively, early when Charlie finished his breakfast and told Ian that he needed to get down to the FBI office so that he could help the techs go through all the CCTV coverage. Since the other three agents had already arrived, Ian figured he would leave all of them there to make sure the Craftsman remained secure while he, Alan and Charlie went downtown.

Given the situation – Alan not being comfortable with him as well as the possibility of King fulfilling his threat of coming after not only Alan or Charlie, but him as well – the sniper felt it would be best to call for another SUV and agent and split them up between the two cars. While Ian knew that Alan didn't want Charlie anywhere near him, Ian had made a promise to Don and that was something he had no intention of reneging on.

While Alan and Charlie were getting their things together, Agent Baker arrived and Ian gave him his assignment. The agent nodded once and moved close to Eppes Senior when they made to leave the house. But as he and the older man started towards the SUV they'd be taking, Alan saw that his son wasn't going to be riding with him and came to a dead stop on the walkway.

Baker put a hand on his arm, "Sir?"

Ignoring the agent at his side, he glared at Ian. "Agent Edgerton, this is unacceptable."

The sniper breathed deeply, closing his eyes briefly and inwardly clenching his teeth. Apparently, Mr. Eppes wasn't going to keep his issues with Ian to himself.

Ian normally wouldn't have given a rat's ass about what the man found acceptable or not, but this was Alan, the father – an important person – of Don. If this had been anyone else, Ian would have simply set down how things were going to be and that would have been that.

Attempting to keep his voice calm and cool, he looked to the older man. Alan may not trust him, but Don did. And he'd made Don a promise that he was going to stick to. Maybe he needed to make that plain and clear for his father.

"Despite what you think of the situation, Mr. Eppes, I made a promise to Don, one that I have no intention of breaking. You will be transported to the FBI with Agent Baker and I will take Dr. Eppes; it's strategically sound and safer in the event King decides to try anything." Agent Edgerton said, his professional mask completely in place.

Before Alan could make any reply, Charlie was already heading to Ian's pickup, forcing the issue. "Let's go, Ian, I've got work to do. Dad, hurry up and get in the SUV with Baker."

Following Charlie, Ian got into the car and started the engine, watching as Baker almost had to manhandle Alan into his vehicle.

Cursing inwardly, Ian slammed his truck into gear and hit the accelerator. He couldn't wait for this… all of this… to be done.

*N3S*

After driving for several minutes in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, Agent Baker decided to try and get his passenger to relax a bit.

"Try not to worry, Mr. Eppes. Agent Edgerton is one of the best the FBI has ever had. With him heading your protection detail, there's no way King will get either of you."

"It's not King I'm worried about." Alan muttered.

Unfortunately, Agent Baker heard him and frowned. "I don't understand, Sir." If it wasn't about King, what was it about?

Alan had shaken his head.

Baker was puzzled. He couldn't imagine Agent Edgerton doing something to piss off Don's father considering how much he respected the lead agent in LA.

"I'm sorry, Sir. Is there something I should know?"

The elder man wiped a hand over his face before sighing. "I'm very uncomfortable with Agent Edgerton and I don't want either of my sons or myself having to deal with him."

Agent Baker raised his eyebrows before frowning once again. "Agent Edgerton has an intense personality, Mr. Eppes; anyone who has ever dealt with the man knows that. He's used to running down the worst criminals that society has today as well as using his skills as a sniper to take down those who won't come in willingly – ones who have no compunction about taking anyone and everyone around themdown at the same time." Baker gave a wry chuckle. "You, more than anyone in the LA office, ought to appreciate that, Sir."

Agent Baker shook his head, not seeing the puzzled look Alan threw his way. "If it hadn't been for Edgerton, both your sons might well be dead right now – at different times, of course."

Baker saw Alan stiffen in his seat but, before either of them could say anything, they were interrupted by the radio coming to life. "Beta 19 this is Whiskey 33."

Baker grabbed the mouthpiece, giving a look around, trying to see if Edgerton had spotted something he hadn't. "This is Beta 19, read you loud and clear, Whiskey 33."

"Whiskey 33, we're making a side trip to UCLA, confirm Beta 19."

_Checking on Granger._ "Beta 19, confirmed, Whiskey 33."

Taking a moment to check his mirrors and give the area another once over, Agent Baker looked to his passenger before continuing with the previous conversation.

"As for neither of your sons spending any time with him, well… Charlie only comes in as a consultant and really doesn't have much interaction with Edgerton. However, Special Agent Eppes… well, it's not really an option for him, being as he's pretty much the lead agent for LA, and especially since both of them are relatively the best at what they do." Agent Baker checked his mirrors, using his signal to change lanes to follow Edgerton's vehicle down the exit ramp for the hospital.

"He and Edgerton work well together. And also, I know through the grapevine as well as others in the Bureau that Agent Edgerton doesn't actually hold many in high regard." Baker looked at Alan. "But he does your eldest son, Sir." He chuckled, "And, despite what some say, he likes Charlie too."

"What did you mean, when you said Edgerton had saved both my sons lives? What happened?"

The agent looked slightly puzzled and somewhat startled at his passenger's harshly voiced question, but upon seeing Mr. Eppes' expression, he realized that maybe no one, including Agent Eppes, had told the elder man anything about what had happened

_Ah, Hell… there goes my career, _he thought. Taking a breath, he continued. _Well, in for a penny…._

Agent Baker gave the man the very bare bones of the incidents as they wound their way through traffic, finishing just as they began to pull into the parking lot for the Ronald Regan UCLA location.


	32. Chapter 32

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty-two**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Rambler75

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.

_AN: _This part could not have been written without all of the help from Rambler! Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading! All remaining mistakes are completely mine.

_Disclaimer:_ I know nothing about boxing, kickboxing, martial arts or anything else written about in this chapter. And yes, feel free to laugh at that sentence 'cause Rambler did ;)

* * *

[_Saturday mid-morning_]

As he made his way from Pasadena to Los Angeles, Ian found it difficult to keep his mind entirely on the task of driving them to the office downtown. While Agent Baker and Alan may have talked for the majority of their trip, the sniper had no desire to carry on any type of conversation, with anyone. The professor, sitting in the front passenger seat, partially staring out the side window or the windshield, fiddling with a pen and notebook on his lap, didn't seem to want to talk either.

Charlie was having a difficult time of keeping his thoughts from spilling out of his mouth, however. He knew that Ian was upset and frustrated, not only with Alan's attitude, but also for being assigned to the protective detail of them, instead of out looking for King. And Don.

_Don_. Charlie couldn't help but think of his brother and what he _knew_ King was capable of. Don was his big brother; his protector; a bad ass FBI agent and a veteran of Fugitive Recovery before that, and Charlie knew that Don knew how to handle himself in lots of difficult situations. Don wouldn't let King…. Charlie shook his head slightly; it wasn't about what Don wanted or would let King do to him. King was a bad ass SWAT leader. And he'd been doing… stuff… to other police officers for years. King had experience… breaking people… hurting people.

His fists clenched tight and he fought a losing battle with himself not to get lost in his head.

*N3S*

Ian's mind was as busy as his passenger's; only, where Charlie was actively trying very hard to avoid thoughts of what was happening to his brother, the sniper was not, and his thoughts were graphic.

Don was in the hands of a monster and, considering how much damage King did to the two police officers, in just minutes, before killing them, the more time that passed, the less chance of Don being found… whole. It was coming up on 24 hours of him being in King's hands now and they didn't have anything!

Ian clenched his jaw, knuckles going white on the steering wheel and tried to force his thoughts to something else. Unfortunately, they went directly to something just as disheartening.

What could he do to prove that he wasn't what Alan feared most?

Humans were a singularly dichotomic race in their behavior with regards to the depths of depravation and atrocities they perpetuated against their own kind and the heights of decency and goodness they could climb to. Unfortunately, Ian had been dealing with the scum of society for too long and, while he knew that Don's job wasn't a bed of roses, Ian had done and been exposed to a lot more than the other man.

He'd been in the Army first. He'd seen action in a variety of places, especially after he'd taken the sniper track, as well as time in Covert Ops, and now he was one of the premiere snipers of the United States. It was his job to look through the barrel of a rifle scope and take someone else's life if the need arose. And too often, that need did arise. However, it was also his job to put himself into the minds of the people he tracked… hunted… down, and some of the places Ian had had to go, some of the things he'd had to do, to get information on his target, or to find them, he didn't want to think about.

Alan was right… he _was_ a dangerous man.

Right on the tail of that inwardly voiced observation, Ian's memory pulled up one of his worst regrets… a nightmare really.

Although the mission itself was still under 'classified' status, the 'unofficial' story was wide spread. While the actual details and the operation itself still seemed to be unknown, everyone had their theory on the murder of a young mother of two, her 'upstanding' husband… and the rest.

Ian was the best that Special Ops had to offer on such short notice and he had every confidence that he could do the simple 'get in, get out, not be seen' job. But it hadn't been simple and he had been seen and when all was said and done, the woman was as dead as her husband – an arms dealer who'd been using his wife's money and influence to move weapons from the United States to the Middle East via South America.

But the worst part of it was that one of her children, he couldn't have been more than ten, had immediately run into the room. Seeing both of his parents on the floor, unmoving, the child had picked up the gun the mother had grabbed from near her dead husband and aimed it at him. Even after all these years, Ian still didn't _know_ what he would have done if things hadn't played out the way they did; it had all happened so fast that he'd simply reacted.

Ian saw the child's finger begin to pull the trigger just as he heard a soft tread behind him, saw the boy's eyes flick to something over his shoulder, and Ian lunged to the side and then rolled.

The guard, gun already in hand, had fired at Ian at the same time the child discharged his own weapon and had killed the boy.

All Ian could do was finish the job and get the hell out of there.

Ian swallowed, wrenching his thoughts back to the present. _I'm screwed_, he thought, _because I _am_ something that Alan should fear_.

They were almost to their exit, which would take them to the hospital as well, and Ian really wanted… no, he needed to check in on Colby. He couldn't do anything about Don, at least, not yet, or the past, but, even if it were just wishful thinking that Colby could hear him or somehow know he was there, Ian could definitely make sure that Colby was being taken care of.

He picked up the mouthpiece for the car radio.

"Beta 19 this is Whiskey 33."

Charlie gave a small start as the sound of Ian's voice yanked him back to the here and now.

"_This is Beta 19, read you loud and clear, Whiskey 33."_

"Whiskey 33, we're making a side trip to UCLA, confirm Beta 19."

"_Beta 19, confirmed, Whiskey 33."_

Charlie straightened in his seat but remained quiet and Ian was thankful.

Checking mirrors and sightlines, the sniper made his way over the two lanes in preparation for the exit. Once off the ramp, he continued to the hospital.

Upon arriving and getting out of the SUV, Ian glanced to where Agent Baker was coming around to join Alan on the passenger side of his own vehicle. Giving Baker a nod, the quartet entered via the Emergency Room entryway and strolled through the waiting area to the bank of elevators that would take them to ICU. Making sure that he and Charlie were the only ones in the elevator car, Ian pushed the button for the correct floor and it ascended.

At Charlie's questioning glance at not waiting for his father and Agent Baker, Ian said, simply, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

Charlie huffed slightly but didn't reply.

Disembarking, they waited for Baker and Alan to arrive before continuing their journey down the hall and into the ICU ward.

* * *

As they had parked in the hospital lot, Alan's thoughts had been whirling with the information Agent Baker had given him. Information that he suspected was heavily edited, leaving only the bare minimum, and he wondered what else he'd never been told.

He and Margaret had never been comfortable with Don's being in law enforcement. When he'd announced that he was retiring from the minor leagues, their relief at him choosing something that had an actual future had been extremely short lived when, right on the heels of that, he'd shocked them with his decision to join the FBI.

That first year, Alan and Margaret had endeavored to try to find out how, and why, Don had gone from baseball to federal law enforcement and by the time Margaret had become ill, they'd come to grips with it, to a certain extent. However, Alan was always worried about what would happen to his eldest son. About the danger his career put him in; that was inherent in it.

And then _Charlie_ had started getting involved with Don's work; he'd become a consultant and it had led to him being shot at… being run off the road…. Charlie had been exposed to so many things that Alan and Margaret had never thought he'd be – that they had never wanted him to be! An academic like Charlie didn't need to know about everything that his elder brother did, that had… gotten into Don's head, heart and soul; something that could only intensify with associating with the likes of Agent Edgerton.

* * *

As Ian walked from the elevator to the waiting area of the ICU, he debated on leaving Charlie and Alan there with Agent Baker and the police officer who was currently on duty; he didn't want an audience for his visit with Colby. But Ian knew, all too well, that he'd never be able to focus on Colby if Charlie and Alan were too far out of his sphere of influence. Bracing himself against Alan's inevitable disapproval, Ian left them at the nurses' station instead, which was a few feet away from Colby's room.

Per usual, the sniper stopped in the doorway of the cubicle and took in the room before continuing inside. There wasn't much he could do that wouldn't be observed through the large glass partitions that served as walls, so Ian simply leaned against the rail of the bed, forearms resting on the top bar, hands clasped in front and over the prone form of the blonde-haired agent.

He allowed himself a moment to look over Colby, noting any changes in him and the equipment around the man, comparing it with the memory of the last time he'd visited. It also gave him a chance to pull himself together slightly… a second to breathe. But, time was precious, and he needed to get Charlie to the office.

Leaning down and over the railing, Ian placed his right hand on Colby's chest, almost exactly in the same spot as when he'd done it that first night, when Charlie was with him, and spoke quietly into Colby's ear.

"I don't know if you can hear me, Granger, but we need you to get your ass out of bed. Don's been kidnapped, by Tim King, and we could really use your help catching him."

Ian couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw the slightest change in Colby's facial expression. His gaze intensified and he looked a moment longer. Not seeing anything else, however, Ian put it down to wishful thinking.

He found himself wanting to say… something. Something… that he just couldn't even get himself to think about right now. Sighing, he straightened up and turned to exit the cubicle to find Alan staring at him with a slightly disapproving expression on his face.

He didn't notice the fingers of one of Colby's hands beginning to twitch.

* * *

While Charlie was able to keep Agent Baker's attention away from focusing on Ian's visit with Colby, his father stubbornly watched the dark haired man's moments with their injured friend and co-worker. Seeing his father's expression, Charlie knew that Alan was clearly displeased with Ian's behavior. Although Charlie didn't know how he, himself, felt about Ian's interest in his brother or Colby, Charlie was more than willing to put the matter aside to deal with until after they got Don back.

As Ian made to exit Colby's room, his father straightened up a bit, an indication to Charlie that he was about to confront someone, and the young mathematician decided that he really didn't want to be a part of that scene. While it was unlike him to intervene in confrontations, and to be angry with his father, compared to what they should be focusing on right now, everything Alan was most likely going to say would be petty bickering.

Charlie didn't want to leave Ian to face down his father alone – the man had enough on his mind as it was for Pete's sake – but if Alan decided to get into it with the sniper, Charlie wasn't going to stay and watch – even if he didn't like leaving the two of them unsupervised, maybe it wouldn't harm them to ride the last few minutes to the office together.

Well… maybe it would but….

"Dad, we need to get to the office." Charlie tried to sidetrack his father.

Alan ignored him, "Agent Edgerton—"

Charlie sent a quick glance to Ian, hoping the man could read the apology in his expression, one that he couldn't voice in front of his father, and turned towards the security doors, calling over his shoulder, "Agent Baker, I need to get to the office; I've got a brother to find."

* * *

When Ian stepped out of the elevator at FBI headquarters with Alan Eppes moving out from behind and then hurrying to pass him, the agent's face was completely blank of expression. However, the 'approach at your own risk' vibes he was broadcasting ensured that the other agents and personnel gave him a wide berth as he headed towards Don's team's cubicles. Stalking into the area, his eyes immediately took in everything; finding Charlie in the techs area, already absorbed in going over the CCTV coverage. Agent Baker wasn't too far from him and Alan was just making his way there.

"Ian—" David started and was promptly cut off by the man.

"Fill me in."

Sinclair winced inwardly before complying.

About twenty minutes later, Ian was as up-to-date as any other person involved in the hunt for King and Don. Since he was still on protection detail, there wasn't anything else he could do, really, and Ian knew that if he didn't spend some time in the gym soon, or the shooting range, he'd do something really stupid. Like strangle Alan.

He pulled David aside, "Look Sinclair, I may be stuck babysitting but I think Alan and Charlie are fine with all of you here. I'm going down to the gym, and I don't want to be disturbed for anything other than finding Don. Got it."

David just nodded; his mom hadn't raised any stupid children.

"If Charlie needs me, you know where I'll be." With that, Agent Edgerton turned and stalked to the elevators, personnel parting before him like the Red Sea.

* * *

The gym was quiet this time of day and Ian strode in, having changed into a FBI tee and sweats. He'd thought about going to the range but, with as much as he loved the entire experience of holding and firing a gun, Ian knew he needed a hard, physical workout.

Over the years, he had come up with his own routine that incorporated stretches and calisthenics mixed in with martial arts and kickboxing. Given that he had the gym to himself and that it was likely to stay that way, Ian opted to immerse himself in going full out; he didn't like showing exactly what he was capable of to other people, living with the rule of always keeping something back in case ally turned enemy.

Moving easily, he went from skipping rope to pushups and then sit-ups to chin-ups; to leg, arm and torso stretches; to shadow boxing with arms and legs, bobbing and weaving. Sweating, he pulled off his tee-shirt while barely slowing down and then moved to the large punching bag.

Jab; jab; knee; hook; back fist; step back, front kick; back fist; low roundhouse kick; jab; rear knee; elbow; step back, high roundhouse kick; side kick; jab; jab.

Ian was soaked with perspiration now; it was running into his eyes and his hair flung out drops of sweat every time he connected with the bag, but he paid no attention. He was far from expending everything he had bottled up inside.

The beat of his workout changed, as he punched the bag with his fists almost exclusively now, pounding it like an opponent that he wanted to kill. Ian wasn't even aware of what he was doing until the pain in his hands pulled him back from being lost in his head. Looking down, he found the knuckles and parts of his fingers that wasn't covered by the glove wrap, to be red, raw and puffy. Blinking himself back to the here and now, Ian found himself exhausted and almost desperately panting for breath.

_Shit. Am I trying to give myself a heart attack?_

Carefully taking the gloves off, Ian hissed as he found the knuckles underneath in just as bad of shape, but also split and bleeding slightly. Shaking his head at his stupidity, Ian moved into a quick walk; he needed to cool down – stopping outright wouldn't be good – especially after driving himself so hard. Gradually he slowed down before moving to take long gulps of cold water at the drinking fountain and then headed for the showers.

Detouring to his locker, Ian inspected the damage before stripping out of his sweat drenched and cold clothes. Grabbing his toiletry kit he went to get clean. The hot water felt good as it pounded his back and ran down his body; absently registering the sting of his knuckles, Ian let himself focus on relaxing his muscles. A few moments later, he was on the floor, trembling.

Running himself into the ground like he'd just done, it wasn't only a rookie mistake; it could very well get him and anyone around him, like Charlie and Alan, killed. While Ian knew that he was frustrated and upset at the entire situation, especially about Alan's behavior, he hadn't realized that he'd bottled up so much… anxiety and concern for both Don and Colby or that he was angry enough to lose himself so thoroughly in a workout to actually damage himself.

Ian fully expected for things to become even more stressful when they got Don back. How much more and how he was going to deal with it, he had no idea. Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts and whatever assumptions went with them, aside, and focused on calming his mind and centering himself.

Levering himself off the floor, Ian finished his shower and then returned to his locker. Having learned long ago to keep an extensively stocked first aid kit with him, he pulled it out and methodically wrapped his knuckles before he finished dressing.

Ian took a few moments to just breathe, in and out, putting himself back into 'agent' mode, and then headed for the elevators. He needed to stop at the cafeteria to replenish his energy before he went back to watching over Charlie. And Alan.

* * *

By the time his father joined him, Charlie was already focused on going through the CCTV coverage the various techs had finally been able to pull together. He followed Matt Li's explanation carefully, seeing exactly where they kept losing King's trail from the accident. There were two cameras in the area that were out of order, which left five streets uncovered. Combine that with where King somehow disappeared and it became a game of 'eeny meeny miny moe'.

From what Charlie could see, King either 1) chose a route covered by one of the non-working cameras, 2) changed vehicles combined with number one, 3) changed vehicles and took one of the routes that had been recorded or 4) somehow, just completely slipped through.

Through the day and well into the night, Charlie worked alongside techs and agents, whittling down route by route until they had come up with a few prime locations where King would most likely be.

While Charlie refused to leave the office, Alan finally decided that he needed to return home. Given his attitude towards Edgerton, David was the one who took him back to the Craftsman, spending the night in Don's old bedroom upstairs.

Ian, while dissatisfied with being on protection detail, was more than happy to stay at the office with Charlie. He could keep abreast of the case, keep on eye on Charlie and, when the situation presented itself, be on hand for any 'assistance' needed when they found King. And Don.


	33. Chapter 33

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty-three**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Rambler75

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.

_AN: _Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading!

_AN2_: My beta (and a couple of others) and I had a huge difference of opinion with regards to a couple of sections in this chapter. I decided to hold my ground and be pretty stubborn on what I wanted, how I wanted it and where I wanted it so… everything still here is entirely my responsibility.

_AN3_: For you detail oriented people, please see the bottom of this chapter for information regarding the Ronald Reagan Medical Center/Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital information regarding ICU particulars.

* * *

Excerpt from Chapter 30:

_[When King] wasn't able to get any reaction from [Don] on Sunday morning – from beating, raping or threatening everyone from Granger and Edgerton to Charlie and Alan – King decided that maybe having one of them in the flesh, right in front of Eppes, would be more of an incentive for the man to get with the program._

…_. _

_King looked down at the unconscious blond, thinking about his sweet, tight ass, and started disconnecting the medical paraphernalia from the man. He stopped when he saw Granger's eyelids flutter open._

_Smiling down at the injured agent, King watched as awareness and then recognition blossomed in Granger's gaze._

"_Hey there, Granger. Told you I'd be back." _

_

* * *

_

[_Sunday, mid-morning_]

King had taken careful note of the layout of the ICU area when he'd been there on Monday night, before having to abort the attempt to get Colby due to Edgerton's and Don's presence. This morning, all he had to deal with was one measly police officer besides the medical personnel and King felt confident in escaping with Colby. He wasn't SWAT for nothing, after all.

Getting into ICU had simply been a matter of hanging around outside the medical personnel's entrance and then sliding through the door when a nurse walked out. It was coming up on shift change, something King had planned for in advance, and he took advantage of the nurses doing checks on their patients to turn the sound off for the alarms in Colby's cubicle.

Dressed in stolen scrubs, King continued disconnecting things from the feebly resisting blond; however, a passing orderly noticed the patient's distress and as she moved towards them, King cursed inwardly, clenching his jaw.

Watching from the corner of his eyes, he saw the moment the woman recognized him and, before she could call out for help, King backfisted her hard enough to spin her around before she collapsed to the floor. Unfortunately, even though the blow was relatively quiet, in the almost silence of the ward, the sound was as unexpected as that of a gunshot, drawing the attention of the various medical personnel.

The entire ward was visible through the glass walls of the unit and King watched the heads of two nurses at the centrally located station whip around to look in his direction. Seeing one of them pick up the receiver of the desk phone and begin dialing, he cursed again. Once security was notified, it would take anyone from the FBI office less than three minutes to reach the hospital; the closest police station was less than fourteen.

Scowling, King grabbed the gun from under the scrubs and moved quickly to the open doorway of Granger's room. There wasn't any way he could get the man out of the hospital and be able to get away before any cops or agents showed up now.

He pointed his weapon at the woman, who was in the middle of dialing, as he moved to the main exit.

"Put it down or you're dead." His voice was cold, commanding and quiet.

She complied as he hit the emergency-fire style door, running right into Lieutenant Gary Walker.

* * *

Lt. Walker preferred being out on the streets, taking care of business instead of babysitting or cooling his heels in an office somewhere. However, he'd volunteered to change shifts with a coworker after the man's wife went into labor, for protective duty of Special Agent Colby Granger.

While he hadn't worked a lot with the man, he admired him. It took a lot of guts to do what Granger had done with that whole Chinese affair. The man had risked life and limb, not to mention his freedom and way of life, to keep his country safe. The least Walker could do, he thought, was to make sure the man was safe from that piece of garbage that had been playing at being an officer of the law.

Walker scowled. After finding out that Tim King had not only sexually assaulted Special Agent Colby Granger, along with other agents, but that he'd preyed upon hundreds of police department personnel all over Los Angeles, for years, Walker wondered if he'd always known something was off about the guy.

King may have been good at his job but…. Due to his position in the Gang Enforcement Division, Walker spent a good portion of his job dealing with a variety of unsavory people. It had given him a knack for pegging people at almost first glance, and dealing with a coworker he considered to be a real ass as well as made him feel as uncomfortable as King did, was something he disliked considerably.

Shaking his head mentally, he strode into the ICU waiting area. Briefly checking in with the officer currently on duty, the lieutenant made his way over to the double doors of the ICU, intent on personally looking in on the comatose agent before starting his shift. Reaching the doors just as one of them flew open, almost knocking him over, he found himself face-to-face with King!

Before Gary had a chance to regain his balance, either physically or mentally, the former SWAT leader threw his left fist into the lieutenant's face, simultaneously bringing his right hand up, shooting the cop that was behind Walker before the other man had a chance to react to the situation.

Walker grappled with King, barely registering the attendant at the desk near the doors of the ICU ward, taking the phone under the desk with her. While the lieutenant was no slouch when it came to hand-to-hand and had taken on those of King's size – the man was a couple of inches taller than him and several pounds of muscle heavier – he'd been caught completely flat-footed and was simply outclassed by the man's training.

Gary was finally able to knock the gun from King's hand but then the man slammed him into the wall next to the ICU entrance and Walker saw a flash of something, metal probably, just before there was a searing pain that took his breath away.

Having gone in low under the concealed vest Gary was wearing, King smiled at him, wickedly, before jerking the knife upwards and then giving it a little twist in Walker's gut.

As the lieutenant slid down the wall, valiantly trying to reach for his radio with one hand as the other moved to clutch at the bloody wound, subconsciously aware he was going into shock as his vision darkened, he heard King chuckle darkly. Walker barely registered the man's "No contest, Lieutenant," as he watched King spin and run for the staircase, bowling over the hospital security guard who'd just arrived.

Slowly, everything faded into darkness.

* * *

At the time of the foiled kidnapping, Charlie, Matt Li and the others were still working on pinning King's whereabouts down, focusing their attention on a section of the city that included a multitude of abandoned or nearly vacant warehouses and business complex buildings. While HRT had been placed in charge of search and rescue, several FBI agents and LA police officers were going to be needed for additional manpower and backup, along with SWAT, and all of them were chomping at the proverbial bit to get on with it.

However, when the call from the hospital came through, both agencies went into a frenzy of activity, changing tracks from finding where ever King had been hiding, to catching him as he bolted from the attempted kidnapping of Colby. Every on-duty police officer was put on high alert while several off-duty personnel volunteered to be backup; FBI staff mirrored their LEO counterparts.

David, getting a late start into the office with Alan because the man wanted to make them breakfast, had been on his way back from Pasadena when the alert went out. As he made his way to the hospital, Charlie and the techs started going through the new information, hoping to provide help with the current search, peripherally aware of Ian, radiating cold rage as he paced the bullpen like a caged tiger at not being able to join the hunt.

*N3S*

He and Alan arrived just outside of ICU to see the aftermath of King's visit. There was a sheet covering the body of the officer who hadn't even had a chance to unholster his gun. The remains of various medical packaging and supplies littered the floor near a large smeared pool of blood where Lt. Walker had been stabbed. Inside, David saw Colby being wheeled from his cubicle, now part of the crime scene, into another room. Looking inside his partner's former room, he saw some blood on the floor. The orderly King had attacked had already been sent for scans and x-rays.

While the FBI and LAPD personnel scrambled throughout the city like a bunch of angry bees after their hive had been disturbed, David began to question those in ICU who were, understandably, shocked and shaken by the entire incident. A moment later, a CSI team arrived, dividing themselves between the cubicle in ICU and the waiting area just outside the double doors.

Some time later, Lt. Walker was put into a cubicle next to Agent Granger, both of them now having a guard at the entrance to their rooms as well as two outside in the waiting area. While Gary was in critical but stable condition, Colby had, over the last 24 hours, gone from being non-responsive to actively opening his eyes, making some incoherent sounds and moving feebly but uncoordinatedly.

Despite the manpower and the speed in which they had responded, several hours passed without finding King. Not knowing if he'd fled the area or returned to whatever rock he'd crawled out from under, the alert for him was downgraded. Those still on duty would actively be on the lookout for the wanted man but those who'd volunteered were sent home to rest before their next shift.

David had returned to the office with Alan in tow but, as evening fell, they headed back to the Craftsman. Ian was in no mood to deal with Alan but knew that both he and Charlie needed some downtime. Getting the professor away from the bullpen was a job in and of itself but, this time, Charlie knew what the sniper would do in order to get him to rest. Not willing to risk being carried out, or something equally as embarrassing, he allowed himself to be escorted from the building, under the condition they would be back as early as possible to get back to work.

Ian agreed before registering them at a hotel nearby, foregoing the drive to Pasadena as well as any confrontation with Alan. He gave the two agents he'd commandeered for protection detail first shift to sleep.

By the time the bulk of the agents arrived back in the bullpen on Monday morning, Charlie and the techs were already hard at work and HRT was busy setting up the perimeter for the search area that had been pinpointed as the most likely hiding place for King.

* * *

All of the information I have regarding travel times from the places mentioned as well as the hospital particulars was accessed via the internet.

Mapquest dot com

UCLAhealth dot org

Complete links are available on my LJ.

Since I've never been to Los Angeles, everything that was not directly laid out in the above information was completely made up.

Numb3rs—Numb3rs


	34. Chapter 34

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty-four**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Laura_trekkie; Rambler75

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.

_AN: _Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading!

_AN2:_ For the purpose of this story (and its sequel – the next 'book'), I've made Dr. William Bradford a practicing Psychologist with a Psy.D.

* * *

[_Sunday morning_]

Before King went to kidnap Colby from the hospital, he'd manhandled Don's unresponsive body into a position that he planned on using for later. The agent was put on his back on the raised mat, hands over his head with his wrists in restraints hooked to the bars. An angled cushion was shoved under him, raising his hips and butt up to the perfect angle for King to pound into him later; his legs spread as far as they could go, with the heels of his feet as close to the cushion as possible. Spreader bars at ankles and knees, combined with the chains, would keep the man where King wanted him. Then he'd shoved a dildo into the agent; King had snorted and shook his head when Eppes had made no response.

*N3S*

[_Saturday evening – Monday late morning_]

After he had begged for King to stop and the man… hadn't, Don had retreated into his mind. He had never been one to quit or give up on anything without a fight – holding onto things, much like a dog with a bone, for far longer than was healthy. But, truth be told – if only in the secret places inside his mind – Don didn't know _how_ to let things go. Not really.

When he was a child, after Charlie was born, Don was forced to give up many things. As an adult, he knew that all of them had had to make lots of sacrifices for Charlie, but as a boy and a young man, Don had held in a lot of resentment towards his brother.

Despite Don's trying to hold onto things – his time for baseball; his time with his parents, his place in their lives; his parents' love, affection and adoration; his self-confidence/esteem… Charlie had taken and taken and taken. And, as far as young Don was concerned, he'd never given anything back.

Don strove to make a place for himself in life that had nothing to do with Charlie; that Charlie couldn't take away and that Don could excel at… That would, perhaps, keep some small part of his parents' attention and love for himself instead of his brother.

But that hadn't worked so well. Don had gotten into the minor leagues, all on his own, and he'd had all the attention he could ever want or handle from thousands of adoring fans. But it wasn't enough.

Because it wasn't his parents'.

They had still been focused on Charlie.

And, no matter how good he was, there was always someone better, and Don had had enough of living in Charlie's shadow that he couldn't… _wouldn't_ live in someone else's.

So, he'd chucked the whole thing. If Don was going to be stuck living in the shadow of his brilliant younger brother his entire life, to never really have a significant place in his parents' eyes, he might as well just disappear.

And what better way to… turn his back on his sixties radical parents, than to join the FBI? And then Fugitive Recovery: he'd be on his own, no one to worry about except himself; no chance of running into anything that had to do with mathematicians. His parents wouldn't be able to try to keep in touch, to try to talk about something besides Charlie.

To Don's surprise, he found himself to be really good at his job. In fact, he loved what he was doing. He just wasn't happy or content with the lifestyle one needed to maintain when in FR. Taking a transfer to teach at Quantico showed him other things that he was good at. But it had actually taken him away from some of the aspects of FR that he had enjoyed.

Then came the Special Agent in Charge position in New Mexico.

It combined the best of what he'd liked about Fugitive Recovery, with those things at Quantico that he excelled at and it was fantastic.

Things finally seemed to be falling into place for him. He had a great job; he was building a reputation as a great agent with a lot of potential, who was dedicated to getting things done; he was in love with a woman who was willing to commit to him… and he'd done it all on his own. Without anyone knowing or talking about his younger brother.

Then his mom got sick…

Alan had practically begged him to come home… For her. For Charlie.

So he did. To find Charlie basically living in the garage and his dad exhausted from trying to take care of him as well as Margaret.

After Don arrived, Alan had… his father had regulated himself to being at Margaret's side, leaving everything else for him to deal with.

And, once again, Charlie took and his parents' focus was elsewhere.

Don had had to take a demotion to return to Los Angeles; Kim found that her career meant more to her than a man willing to choose his mother, his family, over his own; the SAC of the LA office was uncomfortable with such a young, up-and-coming agent being placed in such a high position in his office; everything in his life seemed to be crumbling like a house of cards.

Before she died, Margaret had asked him to stay, to watch over Alan and Charlie. Telling Don that she had always known how strong he was and that without him, his dad and brother wouldn't know what to do with themselves. That she had always been so proud of him; to have been so caring and kind to a brother who had no clue of the sacrifices, trials and tribulations that he'd caused all of them, especially him.

Don hadn't known how to respond to all that, nor what or how to feel about the request.

In the end, obviously, he'd stayed. And these last few years spent in the company of his dad and brother had been… good.

His and Charlie's relationship was stronger than it had been at any time when they were children. Granted, Charlie could still be a royal pain and completely oblivious to anything with regards to the human condition, but Don had grown to love him, to understand that very few people in the world would ever be in his brother's league. Yeah, Don still had moments when Charlie's brilliance made him feel like a complete nothing, when he wanted to either strangle him or scream at the universe for saddling him with the burden of being 'Dr. Charles Eppes' brother,' but, overall, he and Charlie had finally come to a point in their lives where they were brothers, first and foremost. And _that_ meant something; something wonderful and special, something that Don wouldn't trade for anything.

He and his father had grown significantly closer as well. Granted, Alan still had problems with him being in the FBI and, of course, they had their own opinions of Charlie working with Don, but, in the long run, Don's relationship with his father had become as strong in its way as the one he had with his brother now. It had taken years, but Don had worked through a large part of his regrets, resentments and disappointments of his childhood and young adult years and that helped calm the waters between and among them.

Don's sessions with Dr. Bradford were something that he had never thought he'd be comfortable with, that he would need, let alone want or look forward to. Whether Bradford knew it or not, the man had helped Don in ways that the dark haired agent would never have guessed or understood he'd needed. Don's new found faith had been an almost direct result of his time with the psychologist – as well as his getting stabbed, of course.

He was still trying to figure out how religion, the concept of 'God,' fit into his life. Don had come across enough 'born again' people or those so blinded or brainwashed by faith or those who professed to be led by 'God' that he knew he would probably never really understand it. He also wasn't naïve enough to believe that, since he'd started traveling down the faith path, his world would become all roses and puppy kisses. Don had seen enough of life, living it from a federal agent's standpoint, to know that the world was a very dangerous place.

His consciousness had the passing thought that his current predicament pretty much reinforced that view before his subconscious gave the aforementioned situation a wide berth on its way to something else.

As time passed, Don's mind continued to provide a refuge for his traumatized body and spirit. Day turning to night without King returning, his mind shied away from the condition and agony his body was in, bringing up memories and images of Don's team, family, friends, other coworkers.

Despite the results of the last couple of weeks, Don also thought of Ian and Colby.

He remembered how dumbfounded he'd been when Colby had been revealed to be a spy and his downward spiral with alcohol. How he'd watched the interrogation tapes for weeks after the man's incarceration trying to figure out what he'd missed; how Colby had played him so much. How shocked he'd been to learn that Colby and Carter had escaped while being transported from prison.

When Colby had called Charlie to talk to Don, he'd been suitably upset at the man for calling his brother and then completely thrown by Colby's explanation of his being, essentially, a counter-intelligence agent, working for the good guys to catch someone in the DoJ. To say that Don was suspicious would have been an understatement. But as the hours passed, they were faced with more questions than answers, more evidence that the former agent _could be_ telling the truth.

Finding Colby in the position they had, a needle of potassium chloride in his chest and not breathing… it had been one of the few times in his life when Don had actually felt like his heart had stopped. To this day, Don had no clear memories of the rest of the time on that freighter or the trip back to LA.

While Don had a lot of questions, a lot of thoughts about the situation and of the man himself, he had never approached Colby about any of them. At first, he was too focused on getting his team back together and working smoothly. Don had had to deal with not only David's issues with Colby and Megan's leaving, but seemingly every agent in LA either tiptoeing around the entire elephant-in-the-room of Colby's having been a triple agent, or those who were adamant about believing he was still a spy and should be sent back to prison for treason or, at the very list, blackballed from working at any government agency.

Things had come to a head for Don when he'd found out that Colby had been attacked in the parking garage one night by three agents who believed they had the right of it. Giving the man a couple of days off, Don had immediately brought things to a standstill on his floor, making every agent there watch Colby's interrogation and torture. He had wanted to dress every one of them down but had settled for glaring at all of them, one at a time, instead. And then he'd made a report to the director, suggesting that all the other agents in the building needed an attitude adjustment as well.

The director hadn't been too comfortable with Don, a junior agent, telling him how to run the office, but the man wasn't stupid. He'd understood Don's concerns as well as what an embarrassing situation it would be for the FBI if the press ever got a whiff of the situation and took the agent's report and suggestion seriously.

While Colby hadn't said anything to him, Don figured that the man had found out what he'd done. Considering the man's dislike of being the focus of any attention, Don also figured that Colby wouldn't ever broach the subject either. However, the dark haired agent knew Colby was thankful for the lessening of animosity towards him with everything he did. Colby had thrown himself even more devotedly into his work, striving to prove to whomever – maybe the deceased Carter, maybe his father, maybe David, Don had stopped trying to guess – that he was worthy of the trust his coworkers showed him as well as the job.

Don shook his head mentally, releasing a sigh into the quiet of King's dungeon, his mind still fully engaged with sheltering him.

His thoughts moved to Ian.

The first thing that came to mind about the man was _that_ morning. Waking up in Ian's embrace had been…. Don sighed with the memory, warmth enveloping him, further buffering him from the trauma that he'd been forced to endure.

He remembered turning his head, expecting the sniper to still be asleep, but the man had already been awake and watching Don intensely, his eyes… soft… and an unguarded smile on his face.

"_Did you get any sleep?"_

_Don watched as the man holding him took a breath. "I… I didn't know if I'd ever get to hold you again, like this." To Don's surprise, the sniper blushed lightly. When he continued, his voice was a little harder but he had a small grin on his face. "Even if it means not sleeping for another 24 hours and me being a real ass," Ian reached up with his other hand and ran his fingers lightly through Don's messed hair, his eyes becoming more intense and his voice serious now, "it was time well spent."_

And then Don had blushed – he'd blushed!

And then, he'd kissed Ian.

And when Ian had responded, Don had _whimpered_.

Don's body might have been abused and perhaps wouldn't be up to anything for a long while, but his mind brought up everything he'd felt, experienced, in that one moment with Ian. Subconsciously, Don knew that, while he wouldn't be up to any type of intimacy with anyone for an indefinite period of time, he also knew that he _would_ get there, eventually. He would just have to fight for it; fight to get back to what he and Ian had started before King had grabbed him.

And Don would. He _would_ fight. Don wasn't going to let what King did to him rule his life.

With that resolution firmly in mind, exhaustion finally overtook Don and he fell into blackness so total that, when a team of search and rescue finally broke into the building he was in, Don made no response. 

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	35. Chapter 35

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty-five**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta this section:_ Laura_trekkie, Rambler75

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Again, please keep the reviews/comments coming because they really help me stay motivated :) Thanks.

_AN: _This chapter was very difficult to put together for some reason and didn't end where I wanted it to. So, there's at least one more (chapter) to go. Thank you all so much for the reviews and the support – especially those still reading!

* * *

Excerpt from Chapter 33:

_By the time the bulk of the agents arrived back in the bullpen on Monday morning, Charlie and the techs were already hard at work and HRT was busy setting up the perimeter for the search area that had been pinpointed as the most likely hiding place for King._

Excerpt from Chapter 34:

_And Don would. He _would_ fight. Don wasn't going to let what King did to him, rule his life._

_With that resolution firmly in mind, exhaustion finally overtook him and Don fell into blackness so total that when a team of search and rescue finally broke into the building he was in, Don made no response._

* * *

[_Monday, throughout the morning_]

The search teams had been actively reconning and then, as inconspicuously as possible, searching the target area Charlie and the techs had given them. While it took them longer, no one wanted to give King any advance warning of their activities if he was in the area. However, building after building showed them no sign of their subjects until almost noon.

They knew they'd found something as soon as they entered. The place was large, somewhat maintained and most of the team of agents and officers recognized a variety of the equipment. Moving into the building and spreading out, a shout was soon heard as one of them came across the dungeon's sole occupant.

While all of them had been briefed on the investigation, as well as the assumption that both murdered police officers were victims of King, the depravity of Special Agent Eppes' surroundings, his condition and how he was positioned, still shocked those first on the scene.

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Back at the office, images captured by the TAC gear cameras played over the monitors in one of the A/V rooms. As Don came into view, growing sharper and more detailed as one of the search team got closer, those watching reacted.

Charlie paled as he raised a hand to his mouth before closing his eyes momentarily. Swallowing, he looked back to the monitor in front of him. Alan's knees had buckled and he would have fallen to the floor had David not gotten a chair under the older man. Now, sitting by his youngest son, he barely seemed to feel Charlie grasp onto his closest hand through his own shock at what they were seeing.

While David, standing behind the eldest Eppes, seemed stunned into stillness, the sniper beside him radiated an aura of suppressed fury despite his expressionless face and calm bearing.

They watched as the medics that had been on standby moved in to help Don, who appeared completely unaware of his rescuers.

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By the time other personnel had started arriving on the scene, the medics had freed Don from his restraints and placed him on a stretcher. While his obvious wounds had been tended to and he was now covered with blankets and set up with a couple of IVs, the medics were concerned with his non-responsive state and anxious to get him to a hospital. However, with Don unconscious and the CSIs and other personnel who'd begun to process the location trying to find any hint of where their target might be, and coming up empty, HRT was trying to decide where to take their injured coworker.

Moments later it was decided, even though King had already attempted to kidnap Agent Granger from the ICU earlier, that it was better to concentrate their entire protection detail to only one area instead of dividing them up, especially now that they could release some of the personnel who'd helped with the search, to do it.

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As the helicopter left with its precious cargo, along with two search members, King stood looking out a window of a previously searched building with a pair of binoculars, watching the activity around his dungeon.

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As soon as word reached them that the helicopter was on its way, Charlie and Ian headed for the stairwell, both in too much of a hurry to wait for the elevator. Alan, just as anxious but knowing his body wouldn't be at all happy with him if he tried to do all those stairs, headed for the lift. When David came to stand beside him, Alan was… almost glad to have the man willing to accompany him instead of following the other two down the stairs. However, despite David's company, both the ride in the elevator and the car trip to the hospital were fraught with tension and silence. Even Alan's being upset that Charlie had obviously decided to ride with Edgerton couldn't keep his mind from focusing on Don.

_Don._

His eldest son had been the kid who thrived on attention from, and friendships with, his peers, growing up and playing baseball, football, noticing girls and all the other things a regular male child did. He'd been stubborn and head-strong, but also had a serious bent for willingly shouldering whatever burden that came his way, imagined or otherwise and, Alan couldn't deny the reality of the hindsight Charlie had provided him with just days ago, that he and Margaret had, however unconsciously, fostered that need to be responsible by essentially giving Don the huge burden of being Charlie's keeper.

They had taught him that he was accountable for his younger, intimidatingly genius brother. That Charlie was allowed, even expected, to not only take the majority of their parents' time and energy, but Don's – not only at home with family, but school and recreation – too.

It had taken Alan far too long to understand, that, despite the willingness to carry all those burdens he'd been given, Don internalized a lot of jealousy, resentment and anger regarding his brother and maybe even him and his mother as well. That he'd chosen to absent himself from anywhere near all of them after high school in order to get his own needs met, something they should have done, said a lot about how badly they'd failed.

Don had gone into professional baseball, Alan had finally come to realize, not because it was a good career move but because it filled his eldest son's need to be the center of someone's attention. While Don was good at it, his looks and talent combined gave him the attention of thousands of adoring fans. The experience must have been very heady for someone who'd been so overshadowed by his genius brother.

But, it hadn't been enough for Don, apparently, because he'd retired after a short time. He and Margaret had been so shocked with his announcement of joining the FBI that they hadn't gotten Don's reasons, not for that or for why he'd gone into federal law enforcement either.

Those years between Don being in Fugitive Recovery and his moving back to Los Angeles had been filled with stressed relations and awkward phone calls. When Margaret passed away and Don had decided to stay, Alan had been overjoyed, even if their relationship was tense and almost non-existent. Despite his wanting to strengthen his ties to both of his sons, Alan continually worried about what would happen to his eldest son, about the danger his career put him in.

And now… Now Alan was entering the parking lot for the hospital, where his son was being flown to after being…. he swallowed, stopping the thought. Closing his eyes momentarily, Alan couldn't help seeing the images of his eldest son naked, restrained and spread open for that monster's pleasure and had to continually swallow for a few moments to keep from vomiting.

Don's job put him in far too much danger. And having found out that he was romantically interested in someone that Alan felt was just as bad in his way as the man who'd kidnapped and assaulted his son…. Don's soul, his heart, had obviously been twisted with his work if he could think being with Edgerton would be anything other than dangerous and this side of a death wish.

_God, where did I go wrong?_

Alan felt the overwhelming need to protect his son. He'd obviously failed at taking care of Don when he was a child and a young man if this is where it took his eldest son. While Don had, so far as they knew, survived this, Alan was going to make damn sure that he never had to deal with anything like this, ever, again.

* * *

They had all arrived before the helicopter but were barred from the helipad area and told to wait in the Emergency Room's receiving area. The minutes of tense and awkward milling about silently seemed to drag by until there was a disturbance of a team of medical personnel with a gurney, flanked on either side by men in TAC gear, a brief glimpse of a form bundled in blankets and topped with dark hair, quickly going down the hall and through a set of double doors. The two men who'd arrived with Don then stayed as close to the entrance to the ER proper as possible, challenging anyone who approached for their identification.

News did not come quickly to the anxious group, including Amita, Larry, Liz and Nikki by now, but, when it did, they were told that Don had been taken into surgery and a doctor would give them more information when he was available.

Considering all they had ahead of them for the foreseeable future was more waiting, Ian decided to check on Walker and Colby. Leaving Charlie and Alan with David and the others, he made his way up to ICU. A flash of his FBI credentials to both officers and the attendant at the desk got him buzzed in through the security doors.

Ian strode into the ward, his sniper's gaze taking in everything as he made his way to the farthest cubicles. He glanced briefly into the one housing Colby, nodding to the agent standing at ease just outside the doorway before continuing into Walker's.

Passing the officer on duty there, Ian saw that the lieutenant was being checked on by a nurse. Nodding to her as well, he asked, "How's he doing?"

"Considering the wound, so far, so good. We'll be keeping a very close eye on him though." She answered pleasantly enough.

It's about what Ian thought she'd say, given that he wasn't family or the one holding Walker's medical power of attorney. As far as he knew, the only person who'd be getting anything specific would be the lieutenant's captain.

Walker seemed comfortable and completely out of it. With the drugs he was on, he wouldn't be coherent for a long while.

Since Colby was right next door, Ian didn't have any chance to gather his composure. Barely able to take a couple of steadying breaths, he once again nodded to the agent on protective duty. When Don arrived, one of the men who'd flown in with him would stay, while the other headed back to the office.

Slipping inside, Ian looked the blond over before actually stepping close to the bed and resting against the railing. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes momentarily and swallowed. When he looked to Colby again, he found slightly sleepy and unfocused green eyes gazing back at him.

Ian grinned. "Hey, Granger. It's good to see you awake finally."

Colby blinked slowly in response.

Having no idea what to say to him or where Colby was with regards to his memory or anything, Ian decided to just tell him about the day.

"We found Don. He's in surgery right now. He's been unconscious since one of the HRT groups found him." Colby blinked again and Ian swallowed. "No sign of King. Don't worry though, we've agents on all of you and if he so much as pops his head up I've got my rifle all ready for him."

The blond seemed to frown and his head jerked to the side slightly. Ian had no idea what Colby was thinking or trying to communicate though and it frustrated him. However, before the sniper could do anything else, a nurse walked in and proceeded to check on her patient.

In a repeat from Walker's cubicle, Ian asked, "How's he doing?"

"Considering everything that happened earlier, he's doing very well." As the woman checked the various machines and connections both on Colby's side and the equipment's, she answered, giving Ian a small smile.

Ian let a breath out that he wasn't even aware of holding, feeling some tension and stress leave his entire body.

"Having been in a coma isn't anything to sniff at; he still has a long ways to go but, like I said, he's doing very well." Turning from the sniper to her patient, she continued, "You're gonna be with us for a bit but don't let that upset you," she chuckled slightly. "All you have to do is rest and heal; let us do everything else for the time being."

Colby just blinked at her, although he had moved his head to see her, and the nurse smiled slightly. With a squeeze to his nearest hand, she nodded her head to Ian and headed towards the door.

"Thank you." Ian said over his shoulder, turning back to Colby to see his eyes droop.

The sniper reached down and lightly squeezed the man's nearest shoulder. "You should get some more sleep, Colby."

A breath and a slight movement of the nearest hand and his eyes closed. A moment later and Colby's breathing settled into a sleeping rhythm.

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	36. Chapter 36

_Title:_ **Assaulted! Series – Part thirty-six**

_Author:_ jadvisioness/lilacs_roses

_Type:_ Numb3rs

_Characters:_ Colby Granger, Don Eppes, Ian Edgerton, Tim King, etc.

_Pairings:_ Surprise pairing/s

_Beta/First Reader this section:_ Laura_trekkie, CerealKiller0, Munchkinofdoom, Rambler75

_Genre:_ AU; crime-drama; hurt/comfort; episode related; romance/ust

_Rating:_ NC17

_Warnings:_ non-con/sexual assault/rape; slash

_Spoilers:_ Mole, Janus List, Trust Metric, whole 'spy' storyline

_Summary:_ Colby's raped in the seventh floor men's room of the FBI. How does the team take it and, more importantly, what happens - to the perpetrator, to the victim and to those close to him?

_Feedback:_ Always!

_AN:_ **This is the last chapter for this book of the series; I'll begin posting the next book at the end of June/beginning of July.** Thank you all so very much for the reviews and the support – especially to all of those who still kept reading despite the erratic posting 'schedule'!

* * *

Excerpts from Chapter 35:

_Alan felt the overwhelming need to protect his son. He'd obviously failed at taking care of Don when he was a child and a young man if this is where it took his eldest son. While Don had, so far as they knew, survived this, Alan was going to make damn sure that he never had to deal with anything like this, ever, again._

_Ian grinned. "Hey, Granger. It's good to see you awake finally."_

_Colby blinked slowly in response.  
_

* * *

[_Monday afternoon_]

As Ian left the Emergency Room waiting area, Amita could tell that Alan relaxed considerably. While the majority of them were pretty comfortable around the sniper, she herself was still edgy around him, not knowing him as well as Don's co-workers, but she certainly didn't hold any animosity towards him like Alan. Agent Edgerton was an intense and focused individual; he wouldn't be one of the top agents in the organization or a premiere sniper, if he wasn't. But he was a man of the law. Whatever Alan thought of him, he had to understand that he was one of the good guys, didn't he?

David, Nikki and Liz were huddled together and she and Larry could hear them quietly going over their parts of the investigation so they could get their paperwork together as quickly as possible when they got back to the office. She knew they'd all be camping out in ICU with their boss and coworker for the indefinite future, despite, or rather because, King was still out there somewhere. HRT would be heading back to Quantico, their part in the search completed. While it would be great to have them continue with helping to find their former SWAT leader, they were too valuable to keep just for the capture of a criminal, even one with King's background.

She and Larry were sitting nearest to Charlie; they were still in shock over everything really, struggling to keep their emotions in check in order to support Charlie and his father. Larry and she had spent a lot of time over the last week sitting with Colby; it was wonderful that he was finally becoming aware but that feeling was overshadowed by their worry over what the future held for Don. Would they go from attending to one friend in a coma to having to do the same for another?

The strained atmosphere was broken as a doctor came into the waiting area. "Who's here for Special Agent Don Eppes?"

Alan was out of his seat as fast as his exhausted body could get him, "Here. I'm his father, Alan; how is he?"

As the others gathered around, the doctor motioned them all to sit back down, bringing a chair over to place in front of Alan. "Agent Eppes is actually in relatively good condition considering. He's obviously suffering from dehydration and has a lot of contusions and some scrapes from the car accident he was in on Friday. While his entire torso shows a lot of bruising, the seatbelt and airbags kept him from getting anything more serious from the car accident; the others are from being beaten. He also has a lot of bruising around his head, a product of the accident as well as his kidnapper I'm sure, with some spots where his hair has come loose from his scalp.

"Whatever was used to restrain him has put deep cuts into his wrists and ankles. At this time, from what we saw, he may need some surgery for the wrists; he'll recover, but he'll need some physical therapy to get back his range of motion and strength. Agent Eppes also has a lot of deep bruising on his lower torso and upper thighs that's going to cause a lot of pain for awhile."

The doctor took a breath before continuing, "He has some anal tearing from his abuse." A pause to give the group a moment, "While the area is ripe for infection due to the location, those lesions will heal relatively quickly with the right care, but they will be painful for a time.

"One of my major concerns was that Agent Eppes was still recovering from being stabbed in the chest."

Amita remembered those few times she'd visited Don in the hospital, usually arriving with Charlie, before those weeks at the Craftsman. The stress and worry of Charlie and Alan, and Don to a certain point, during his recovery from his brush with death had been exhausting. She shook her head inwardly, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that she was about to do it all over again so quickly.

"While surgery wasn't really required for anything other than the damage the restraints caused, I wanted to make sure that the stab wound had not been compromised. We ran some scans as well as took a battery of x-rays and everything looks fine there, but we'll be keeping an eye on it for any signs of infection, overt tenderness and the like."

As Amita released a breath she hadn't been aware of holding, she heard a few of the others do the same at the good news.

"My only other concern is for Don's continued unconscious state. I believe that he is physically and mentally exhausted from his ordeal, of course, but that he's also withdrawn into his mind as a safety measure. It's a common thing the brain does to protect itself when the person has suffered significant trauma, whether physical, mental or emotional.

"There isn't any way for us to tell how long he'll remain unconscious or what his mental state will be when he wakes. For now, it's basically a waiting game – the only things we can do, really, are to let him rest, let his body work on healing itself and to be there for him.

"That said, I believe that having family and friends near him while he's unconscious, would help his mind to realize that the trauma is over and it's safe for him to wake up."

It made sense, after all, Amita and the others had already been sitting with Colby in the hope that he'd hear them and wake up. While Don might not be in an accident-induced coma like Colby was, he was still basically shut inside his mind. If Don was, in effect, hiding from King, it made sense that he should come round if he heard his friends and family around him.

"Don should be heading up to ICU shortly. I'll leave word for the nurses that Don's to have company as much as possible _after_ they have him situated and so long as it doesn't interfere with them, Don's health or their other patients."

As the doctor made to excuse himself, there was a round of relief in the form of sighs and loss of tension. Amita watched as Charlie gave his father a small, almost shy, hug of support and while Alan acknowledged it with a slight nod, his mind was clearly elsewhere, his eyes following the doctor back to the double doors behind which his eldest son lay.

* * *

Ian was still in Colby's cubicle when he became aware of a bed being rolled into the ward with a couple of nurses and the two men dressed in SWAT/HRT gear. Silently, he stood from the chair at Colby's bedside and walked over to the door, watching as Don was taken into the cubicle next door, one of the men positioning himself just outside, while the other used his radio to give a status report to the HRT leader. Turning and going back into the room, Ian watched through the connecting window as the nurses arranged the bed and connected all the medical paraphernalia needed to monitor him.

As they finished, Ian made his way into Don's room, asking what seemed to be the question of the day. "How's he doing?"

Fortunately both nurses were familiar with him, having been there many times when Don and Ian had visited Colby, and gave him more information than they probably should have legally.

The one closest to him answered, "The doctor believes he'll make a full recovery but is concerned about his continued unconsciousness. He thinks having Don's family and friends visiting with him often, telling him he's safe, will get Don to wake up."

"There's a group of people waiting to come in, actually. You're lucky you were here visiting Colby or you wouldn't be allowed in until we've got him settled," the other said with a small smile.

The sniper couldn't help but grin back. He had no idea what Alan would say of his visiting Don without him there to run interference but Ian was willing to bet it wouldn't be good.

As they moved to leave, Ian walked over to the bed and rested his arms on the railing, looking down at Don's battered form. Swallowing, he took a deep breath before he reached down for Don's nearest hand and caressed it, entwining their fingers together. Leaning down on the railing, Ian closed his eyes for a moment before blinking them back open, doggedly pushing back the exhaustion threatening to sweep over him. He needed this quiet moment with Don, a brief respite before Alan and everyone else came in; before Alan could throw his attitude at him again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a long moment as he heard the group approaching Don's cubicle.

Letting his fingers slip from Don's, Ian stood up to be confronted with a murderous glare from Don's father.

"Agent Edgerton, I'd like a word with you." The man motioned for him to come out of the room.

Ian complied; he didn't want to upset Don, or anyone else for that matter.

Once outside the cubicle, he gave a quick glance around, noticing Charlie wasn't with them. Before he could question anyone about it though, Alan was speaking.

"If I could, I would bar you from the entire ICU but, unfortunately, that's something beyond my power to do. However, I can and am forbidding you to be anywhere near my son. Anywhere near either of my sons, actually."

Ian blinked with silent shock. He knew that he wasn't the only one who was stunned at Alan's ultimatum, but he couldn't concentrate on anything else at the moment; in all honestly, Ian didn't have any idea how to respond at all. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Charlie quickly moving towards them, noting the professor's slight frown before he reached the tense knot of people around his father.

Charlie looked to the small group of agents and friends, then to Ian before turning back to his father, "Dad? What's going on?"

"I'm just letting Agent Edgerton know that he is not wanted near you or Don, Charlie. And that if he feels the need to go against my wishes, he'll be escorted out of the building by hospital security or a police officer."

Charlie's eyes went wide and he glanced to Ian and the others before looking to Alan again. "Dad, don't do this, please. You don't know what Don wants here; Ian's not going to hurt him or me, he's here to protect us, all of us."

"Charlie, I think I know what's best here."

"Dad—"

"As far as I'm concerned, Agent Edgerton is no better than the man who kidnapped and abused your brother, Charlie. I will _not_ have him anywhere near Don."

The professor's jaw wasn't the only one that dropped at Alan's statement and, as for Ian, it was one judgment too many and he recoiled as if the eldest Eppes had physically assaulted him. Before the sniper could do something he would forever regret, he turned on his heel and left the ward and then the hospital building proper.

In the parking lot, Ian moved to his truck. Inside, he stuck the keys in the ignition, hand stopped from turning the engine over as his thoughts whirled around in his mind.

While he knew that, when Don awoke and became coherent, he and his father would be having some type of discussion about everything, that didn't help Ian right now. And, while Don had chosen to give them a chance on Friday, that was before he was kidnapped and tortured by that monster. Would Don go along with his father now, after…? Would Don want anything to do with him after what King had done?

And, no matter what was happening on the Eppes front, there was still Colby.

If Ian was banned from seeing Don, would Alan's prejudices come into play with Colby too? While Don had a huge support network to help with his healing – friends, coworkers, father and brother – Colby's was pretty dependent on those he shared with Don, given that his family wasn't geographically close. If Ian stayed, did he risk Alan's attitude poisoning not only what could be between Colby and himself, but alienating friends and coworkers as well? Ian had learned that relations with Colby's family were pretty strained since the triple agent business and, while he really wanted to be there for the formidable blond, Ian wouldn't jeopardize Colby's health. He'd leave just to keep the peace and hope that he and Colby could get together at some point in the future.

Making his decision, Ian swallowed and then started the ignition, his hands trembling slightly, pulling away from the hospital.

* * *

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_How does Don react to what's going on when he regains consciousness? Does Ian leave? What about Colby? Where's King and what's he planning on doing now that Colby and Don are in protective custody?_

_Stay tuned for all the hurt/comfort, angst, anguish, revenge, ust/romance and everything that you can handle in the next book, which I will start posting at the end of June/beginning of July._

_Thanks to everyone for all the feedback, the reviews, story/author alerts and everything. This wouldn't have come about were it not for all of you – with a special shoutout to Sky_blue2, of course, because without her prompt, this story wouldn't have even been created._

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